Sunday Championship ─ Match Report (3rd April 2016)

It was a busy Sunday on 4^th April with all four main grounds in operation for the first time this season.

At Hong Kong Cricket Club, HKCC Optimists batted first after winning the toss and their top order prospered as they reached 2/227 before a dramatic collapse saw them slump to 9/238 and eventually all out for 259. Things looked different early on as Anshuman Rath (73), Courtney Kruger (81) and Miles Richardson (51) all made half centuries. The Rath-Kruger partnership added 85 runs for the second wicket while Kruger and Richardson added another 108 for the third. However, the introduction of Awais Mohammad to the bowling attack triggered Optimists’ implosion as seven wickets fell for the addition of eleven runs. Awais picked up 4/31 from 7.5 overs while Shan Sanwar also grabbed 3/32 from ten.

USRC/MCC responded with 120 runs for the first wicket, despite the early departure of Asif Hussain who retired hurt. Umar Mohammad struck 85 while Vishal Mehta hit 47 but their burgeoning partnership was cut short following the introduction of Courtney Kruger to the bowling attack. Thereafter, USRC/MCC wickets fell at regular intervals as Anshuman Rath ran amuck. Rath picked up 5/22 in a decisive ten over spell as the USRC/MCC innings folded for 221.

At HKCC: HKCC Optimists 259 from 49.5 overs beat USRC/MCC 221 from 45.4 overs by 38 runs.

Over at Kowloon Cricket Club, hosts KCC Templars thumped HKCC Wanderers by 110 runs, thanks to a couple of unlikely stars with the bat.

Templars batted first after being inserted by the Wanderers skipper and they would have been reasonably satisfied to be sitting on 2/69 with Dylan Dearing hitting 36. However, a brace of wickets at that score saw Templars reduced to 4/69 before a fifth wicket stand of 73 between Jamie Atkinson (49) and Chris Carter (32) moved the score on to 142. But both batsmen then fell in a quick succession in a slump that saw Templars reduced to 9/162. Templars’ last pair of Aditya Kanthan and Adil Mehmood batted very sensibly to lift the final score to 9/222 – the tail-enders adding a valuable 60 runs to their team’s cause. Kanthan finished on 24 not out while Mehmood reached a dizzying 41 not out.

The Wanderers reply never quite got going and they lost wickets at regular intervals. Only three batsmen reached double figures in their innings of 112 that lasted just 27.4 overs. Nizakat Khan’s 40 was the best for Wanderers while Imran Arif was the pick of the Templars’ bowlers with figures of 3/17 off five overs.

At KCC: KCC Templars 9/222 from 50 overs beat HKCC Wanderers 112 from 27.4 overs by 110 runs.

At Mission Road, Pakistan Association routed Shaffi’s Vagabonds by 129 runs to earn another bonus point.

The Pakistan Association innings got away to a poor start with both openers dismissed with just eleven runs on the board. However a 100-run third wicket partnership between Hamed Khan (62) and Skhawat Ali (73) put them in a strong position and Tanwil Afzal (85*) and Zain Islam (46*) continued the momentum with a 141-run sixth wicket stand that lifted Pakistan Association to a final total of 5/312.

A number of Vagabonds batsmen made useful starts but none reached 30 as they were all out for 183 in 41 overs. Mohsan Khan was the best of the bowlers for Pakistan Association with 3/26 from his nine over spell.

At Mission Road: Pakistan Association 5/312 from 48 overs beat Shaffi’s Vagabonds 183 from 41 overs by 129 runs.

HKCA Dragons put up their best performance of the season in a 47-run loss to DLSWCC Knights at PKVR Park.

The Knights’ skipper had no hesitation to bat first after winning the toss and his team knocked up a score of 7/293 from their 50 overs. Haroon Arshad hit 113 not out while Aryan Shetty (57) and Sarfaraz Khan (33) made significant contributions, with the Arshad-Khan partnership adding 108 runs for the fifth wicket.

Niaz Ali struck early in the Dragon’s reply but an unbeaten 85 from Eddy Ang held their innings together. Jason Lui hit 53 as Ang and Lui added 91 runs for the fifth wicket. Niaz chipped away at the Dragons batting line-up to finish with figures of 5/28 before the Dragons’ innings finished on 9/246.

At PKVR Park: DLSWCC Knights 7/293 from 50 overs beat HKCA Dragons 9/246 from 50 overs by 47 runs.