20/11/17 – ICC WWT20 Asia Qualifier – Hong Kong vs Malaysia

Hong Kong won the toss and elected to bat

1^st Innings

Hong Kong chose to open the batting on an overcast day at the Asiatic Institute of Technology in Bangkok. A delayed start did not dampen the occasion, as Keenu Gill and Yasmin Daswani took strike to start the tournament for the Red Dragons. On what was a good wicket, it became evidently clear it would be a difficult game with the Malaysian attack bowling well from the outset.

Winifred Duraisingam and Zayani Syamimi applied pressure to the Hong Kong top order up with some good stump to stump bowling with runs hard to come by in the initial 6 over power play. Tough early batting conditions and a very slow outfield, this made scoring a hard task. In the 3^rd over with Hong Kong on 7 for no loss, Zayani Syamimi started her tournament tally with Gill given out LBW on 4. In came in-form captain Mariko Hill who departed after a low full toss found her top edge whilst sweeping her first ball and was well caught by the keeper going backwards.

With Hong Kong seeking some stability at 7-2, Kary Chan came to the crease and looked busy scoring some quick singles in the first few balls, however, her demise came in the next over through a sharp catch at cover. Shanzeen Shahzad joined Daswani at the crease looking to create a lasting partnership but Syamimi once again firmly put Malaysia in the driving seat with another catch coming from a mishit to mid-off.

With Daswani and new batsman Jenefer Davies at the crease, things started positively with the pair finding gaps and running hard to push Hong Kong’s innings on. Malaysia sustained their attack and had Daswani bowled leaving Hong Kong in real trouble at 24-5 after 9 overs.

Davies was joined by Natural Yip and both players combined well taking singles and putting pressure on the Malaysian bowlers. Both batters saw out the 2^nd half of the innings punishing the bad ball and testing the arms of the Malaysian fielders. Yip unfortunately was bowled by Syamimi before the end of the innings leaving Davies to finish off the final over.

The return of Duraisingam saw her well caught by none other than Syamimi with Hong Kong on 75-7, Davies, with 29 form 36. Marina Lamplough saw off the final two balls to see Hong Kong home on 77-7 off 20 overs.

2^nd Innings

Betty Chan (4-1-9-1) and Mariko Hill (2-0-6-1) opened the bowling against the Malaysians who had a tough time against the combination of pace and spin resulting in an early wicket for Hill with her 2^nd ball of the game with Davies, who was in the process of putting together a player of the match performance, taking the catch behind the stumps.

Tight bowling and ruthless fielding continued to restrict the Malaysian batsmen who played high risk shots wickets resulted in key dismissals leaving Hong Kong in the ascendancy with the Malaysia innings stuttering at 14-3 after 6 overs. With pressure mounting from some fine fielding and excellent field placements by Hill, Hong Kong took control of the game with dot ball pressure creating a number of run outs.

Annie Ho (3-0-5-0) and Keenu Gill (2-0-4-1) stifled the Malaysian reply with a clinical partnership in the middle of the innings. Marina Lamplough and Chan Sa Ha combined to finish off the Malaysian tail. Both created havoc with yet another seam/spin combination which finished off the rest of the Malaysian innings inside 17 overs. Davies once again taking a challenging edge standing up and Chan forcing some brilliant fielding from Hill at short cover. Hong Kong went on to win by a margin of 35 runs, and lead the table after Day 1 with U.A,E. on 2 points followed closely by Thailand and Nepal.

Hong Kong Head Coach Richard Waite said “Delighted with the character shown by the team after a tough start at the beginning of the Hong Kong innings. The skill and game awareness of Jenefer Davies was crucial to Hong Kong edging up towards a score of 75/80 which ultimately proved to be 35 too many in tricky conditions”

Player of the Match Jenefer Davies who top scored with 29 in the Hong Kong innings was happy to see the hard work which she has been putting in during the pre-tour to India coming to fruition in game 1 of the tournament.

Stand Out Performances

Jenefer Davies 29 off 36

Zayani Syamimi 4-0-13-4

Chan Sau Ha 3-0-8-2

Marina Lamplough 3-0-8-2