East Asia T20 Cup 2017

East Asia T20 Cup Final

Hong Kong v Japan

Sunday 24^th September at Kowloon Cricket Club

The stage was set for both of the unbeaten teams to compete in an eagerly anticipated final. Both Hong Kong and Korea defeated China and Japan in the group stage and both teams were full of confidence going into today’s final.

Japan Captain Mai Yanagida won the toss and elected to Bat first. For Hong it was their first time fielding first having won their opening matches batting first. Mariko Hill took the new ball and bowled with good pace but at the same time was met with Kanno in particular taking advantage of anything short and wide. Chan Ka Man made the opening breakthrough with Kanno well caught at mid-off by Ho for 8. Back to back maidens during overs 5 and 6 by Ho and Chan Ma Kan left Japan under pressure at 14-1 after 6 overs. Shirashi set out to kick start the innings with a flowing drive through cover for 4.

Shirashi was comprehensively bowled by K Chan for 8 and Hong Kong were very much in the ascendency. The Japanese captain Yanagida was still at the crease but was struggling to break the shackles of some disciplined bowling and excellent work once again in the inner circle. 17 runs off the 12^th over kick started the Japan innings with some lusty blows being struck by Endo. The Japanese counter-attack continued in the next over with 9 coming off the bowling of Chan Sau Ha including some excellent straight drives through and over mid on/off.

Chan Ka Man was bought back into the attack and struck instantly bowling the dangerous Endo for a well-made 16. Chan ended up with figures of 2-3 off her 4 over spell including 3 maidens. Yanagida continued to play some exquisite drives both through and over cover and was holding the Japan innings together. 74-3 off 17 overs, the Japanese were trying everything to get up to as close to 100 If not beyond. Yanagida finished unbeaten on 35 off 55 balls and the Japanese inning s closed on 90-4.

Hong Kong set off chasing 91 with in form openers Daswani and Gill striding out to the middle. The impressive left arm spinner of Miyaji started off with a maiden and the intensity of the Japanese fielding unit within the inner circle was evident from ball 1. Daswani with her favored square cut and back foot drive tried to get the innings flowing whilst the Japanese team continued to build pressure. Gill eventually got off the mark with 2 cultured strokes through the leg side. 32-0 after the initial 6 over power play, 58 needed off 84 balls with the full complement of wickets in hand.

Rain bought the players off the field at the start of the 9^th over with Hong Kong well placed on 44-0. No overs were lost and the players returned to the middle with play resuming with a free hit that Daswani duly obliged by slashing once again through backward point. The 50 partnership came up in the 9^th over and with that the heavens opened once again. Play resumed for a 3rd time with a revised target of 83 off 18 Overs. Miyaji returned and made the breakthrough bowling Gill (53-1). Ishimoto claimed the wicket of K Chan caught by Wicket Keeper Yamaguchi for 2.

A late flurry of wickets including Daswani, Hill and Shahzad added some late drama but Hong Kong went on to win by 5 wickets and are the 2017 East Asia T20 Champions.

Hong Kong are deserving winners of what has been an excellent tournament. All 4 teams at various stages of the week have shown high levels of skill, passion and commitment. The future of Women’s cricket within the region is in good health.

Player of the Tournament: - Yasmin Daswani (Hong Kong)

Batter of the Tournament: - Yasmin Daswani (Hong Kong)

Bowler of the Tournament: - Etsuko Kobayashi (Japan)

The Hong Kong team continue to prepare for the World Cup Qualifiers to be held in Thailand in November. Richard Waite, James Chan and his coaching staff will no doubt have learnt more about their squad this week and the next 6-7 weeks will offer opportunities for players to continue to develop all facets of their play.

Cricket Hong Kong would like to thank representatives from Korea Cricket Association, Japan Cricket Association and China Cricket Associations for playing their part in a great week’s tournament. Thank you to Hong Kong Cricket Club and Kowloon Cricket Club for hosting the matches this week and to all of the umpires, scorers, officials and volunteers who have taken part. Feeding Hong Kong is the chosen charitable partner of Cricket Hong Kong and we look forward to continuing to work with Feeding HK moving forwards.

East Asia T20 Cup 2017

China v Korea (3^rd/4^th Place game) played at Kowloon Cricket Club

Sunday 24^th September 2017

The inclement weather of the last 24 hours meant that the final days play was moved to Kowloon Cricket Club. Thanks To KCC who kindly offered to host the matches at such short notice.

China Captain Li Haoye won the toss and elected to bat first in a match reduced to 15 Overs per side. Both teams had shown signs of promise throughout the tournament to this stage and both were set to try pick up their first win of the week.

Korean captain Song led the way with the new ball and once again bowled with some pace and aggression against the opening pair of Z Chan and Zhou with the players making the most of the pleasant breeze blowing across the ground. The Korean bowlers struggled initially with their discipline allowing China to make it to 22-0 of the initial 4 over power play.

The introduction of off spin in the form of Baek offered control form one end making the most of the bounce in the wicket and a spirited display in the inner circle on the off side led to the first maiden of the innings. The breakthrough came at the halfway stage of the innings with Zhou trapped in front for 13 of the bowling of Park leaving China 38-1. Korean captain Song returned to trap Zhou LBW for 17 (42-2) with the Korean team buoyed by a period of tight bowling and a great deal of energy in the inner circle.

The final 5 overs of the innings led to some helter skelter cricket with some excellent strokes, catching and direct hit run outs. Song led the way with 3-16 of her allotted 3 Overs and China battled through to reach 74-6 off their allocated 15 Overs.

The opening pair Of Song and Kim strode out to the crease with a 5 an over chase required from the offset. Lyu and Qi made a disciplined start and Qi was rewarded with the wicket of the Korean captain Song caught at cover with the score 12-1. China had moved on to 16-1 at the conclusion of the power play. The introduction of Xiangxue worked with immediate effect with Choi being caught by Song for 3 at short cover.

S Kim was the lynchpin of the Korean innings and at the hallway stage the game was evenly poised with Korea requiring 40 off 45 balls. Xiangxue struck again to remove Kim well caught at short cover leaving Korea 45-3 with 29 needed off the last 30 balls. J Park was 14 Not out at this stage and having added impetus to the chase alongside Kim, the onus was now on her to see the team through. S Rui, Struck bowling T Kim for 4 and the game ebbed and flowed once more. 21 off 21 balls with pressure building on both sides. An excellent 12^th over from Haoye saw the back of Baek caught and bowled. 21 needed off the last 18 balls. Kwon fell run out off the last ball of the 13^th innings and China were seemingly taking the upper hand. 17 needed off 12 balls, the game was set for the final crescendo. Last over saw Korea needing 10 to win off 6 balls. The pressure of bowling the last ball of the over fell to Qi. Wicket, dot ball, dot ball, wicket, 1 run, wicket. China win by 8 Runs. A fantastic end to what was an excellent game.

Result – China Win by 8 Runs

Player of the Match– Tian Qi