On the first day of the T20 SMASH, Hong Kong faced Indonesia in a replay of last year’s loss in the ASEAN T20 Cup. Hong Kong won the toss and elected to bat first.

Within the first 4 overs of the game, Hong Kong lost 4 wickets; Shahzad bowled off a high full toss by Indonesia’s Putri Suwandewi after scoring 4 runs , Daswani trapped LBW playing across the line to Wayan Sariani, Captain Mariko Hill bowled by Suwandewi and Yousaf run out on a mix-up. This left Hong Kong 4/4 after the 4^th over with Bella Poon and vice-Captain Kary Chan at the crease looking to rebuild. However, it only lasted a few balls, as a communication mix-up caused another run out with Poon dismissed leaving Chan with Jasmine Titmuss in her debut game.

Out of the PowerPlay, with Hong Kong at 12/5, it would always be a difficult challenge to get into a dominant position. Titmuss and Chan looked to rotate and accumulate to keep the scoreboard ticking over but couldn’t find their rhythm, and Titmuss holed out to a good catch at short cover by Indonesian Captain Puji Haryanti off the bowling of Adriani. This left Hong Kong at 29/6 off 11 overs. Betty Chan and Kary Chan were left with the task of pushing the score onwards and seemed to find some rhythm. After 15 Overs, Suwandewi once again found a breakthrough with Kary Chan getting caught at Deep Square Leg leaving Hong Kong at 51/7.

Betty Chan was left with Ruchitha Venkatesh to marshal the team to the end of the innings. Both looked to hit straight to the fielders in the deep plundering singles whenever possible. Both survived to the end of the innings to get Hong Kong to 70/7 with B. Chan scoring 20 and Venkatesh 9.

Indonesia, with 71 needed to win, opened with Yulia Anggraeni and Winda Prastini. Anggraeni got off to a good start by dispatching Mariko Hill’s first delivery to the boundary over mid on’s head. Indonesia’s positive start continued as Prastini and Anggraeni watchfully accumulated to get 22/0 off their first 4 overs. Hill and fellow opener Jasmine Titmuss were replaced by spin duo Betty Chan and Kary Chan. Betty Chan got the breakthrough with Anggraeni caught in the deep by Shahzad. New batsman Nanda Sakarini and Prastini continued to be positive getting to 43/1 after 7 overs when a mix up resulted in a runout, ending Prastini’s stay at the crease.

Indonesia reached 50/2 after 10 overs with Sakrini on 14 before her partner Adriani. Adriani lofted the ball to Daswani at Mid-wicket off Hill. Another wicket from Ruchitha Venkatesh, an LBW of Sakrini, took the wicket tally 4. However Hong Kong were unable to finish off the lineup and Indonesia saw off the total in the 15th over with Indonesia demonstrating their resilience the rotate the strike and see it off. A comprehensive 6 wicket win for Indonesia, and a tough loss for HK to start their tournament.

1st Innings Scorecard

2nd Innings Scorecard

Hong Kong will now play Bhutan in their 2nd group stage game at Terdthai Cricket Ground in Bangkok