[PICTURES] The 2018 Hong Kong T20 Blitz Thread (6-11 February, 2018)

[MenInG]

[Hong Kong]: A record 27 overseas players are set to join Hong Kong's best domestic talent as final squads were confirmed ahead of the 2018 Hong Kong T20 Blitz set to be played from February 6-11.

Ten overseas stars from the 2017 edition have returned for a second time, including headliners Kumar Sangakkara (Galaxy Gladiators), Darren Sammy (Jaguars) and Dwayne Smith (Cantons), providing another opportunity for Hong Kong local players to learn from the world's best.

“I loved the previous season of the Blitz, and cannot wait to represent Gladiators for the second time running. I’m super excited to get back with the team,” said Kumar Sangakkara.

“I loved the Hong Kong experience and vibe and to come again and play with the home-grown talent in front of such enthusiastic supporters is something I am looking forward to."

Defending champions Kowloon Cantons have gone to pace in their bid for a three-peat with Pakistan's Wahab Riaz set to play in the Blitz for the first time.

They won't be the only side with pace to burn, with Hong Kong Island United securing 216cm quick Mohammad Irfan, while the Galaxy will have young gun Jofra Archer, who has been bowling in excess of 150km/h in the Big Bash League, in their armoury.

City Kaitak boast a wealth of international experience with West Indies’ Rayad Emrit returning to the franchise and supported by Sohail Tavir, Ravi Bopara, Samuel Badree and Kyle Coetzer, who was the second leading run-scorer in the tournament last year.

"The depth of talent in this year's overseas draft is incredible," Tournament Director Matt Stiller said.

"The franchise owners have done fantastically well to assemble these squads, which are sure to provide a great spectacle for cricket fans in Hong Kong."

To encourage the continued development of emerging cricket nations and Chinese cricket, each squad is required to field one overseas Associate player and one Cricket Hong Kong Dragons player.

The franchises have embraced this vision wholeheartedly according to Stiller.

"It's great to see franchises promoting the Associate member nations, not only by raising the profile of the tournament in Hong Kong, but by including players like Paul Van Meekeren and Scotland captain Coetzer, who will make up integral parts of the playing XI's.

"We're expecting a great show with sold out crowds on the weekend," he said.

Over 120 sixes were hit over five days of the tournament last year and that number is expected to increase with some enormous hitting power signed on.

HKI United's Kamran Akmal is one of the most notable with 145 sixes in his T20 career alone, while Galaxy's Cameron Delport smashed 109 off 59 balls for Leicestershire in England's T20 Blast last season.

And not to be forgotten is the hitting power of the locals, with Hong Kong captain Babar Hayat coming in off the back of being the leading run scorer in Nepal's Everest T20 League and Nizakat Khan looking to repeat the dose of his whirlwind century against City Kaitak in last year's Blitz.

The international broadcast community has also approved the field with numerous international broadcasters set to air the T20 Blitz to more than 175 million homes worldwide in February.

The finale weekend of the 2017 Blitz sold out early and with Cricket Hong Kong making tickets to the weekday matches available at just $20, seats are expected to be scarce. To purchase tickets please visit www.ticketflap.com/hkt20blitz2018.

Cricket Hong Kong T20 Blitz Squads

City Kaitak

Overseas: Samuel Badree (WI), Rayad Emrit (WI), Sohail Tanvir (Pak), Ravi Bopara (Eng), Kyle Coetzer (Sco)
Domestic Players: Anshuman Rath, Aizaz Khan (c), Waqas Barkat, Jamie Atkinson, Manjinder Singh, Ishtiaq Muhammad, Umar Mohammad, Raag Kapur, Mudassar Hussain, Siegfried Wai


Galaxy Gladiators Lantau

Overseas Players: Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Seekkuge Prasanna (SL), James Franklin (NZ), Cameron Delport (RSA), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Chetan Suryawanshi (SGP)
Domestic Players: Karandeep Singh, Haroon Arshad, Imran Arif, Shahid Wasif, Amandeep Singh, Li Kai-ming, Moner Dar, Muhammad Balal, Mohammed Osama, Awais Mohammad


Hong Kong Island United

Overseas players: Kamran Akmal (Pak), Mohammad Irfan (Pak), David Wiese (RSA), Luke Ronchi (NZ), Hussain Talat (Pak), Ryan Ten Doeschate (NED)
Domestic Players: Tanwir Afzaal, Ehsan Khan, Yasim Murtaza, Zeeshan Ali, Daniyal Bukhari, Ahsan Abbsai, Suhaib Ahmad, Jason Lui, Chris Carter, Hamed Khan


Hung Hom Jaguars

Overseas players: Darren Sammy (WI), Ben Laughlin (Aus), Riki Wessels (Eng), Johan Botha (RSA/Sydney Sixers), Roelof van der Merwe (Ned)
Domestic Players: Kinchit Shah (Capt), Nizakat Khan, Tanveer Ahmed, Adil Mehmood, Kyle Christie, Ninad Deveng Shah, Nadeem Ahmed, Scott Mckechnie, Damien Yee, Aarush Bhagwat, Rana Nasrulla


Kowloon Cantons

Overseas Players: Dwayne Smith (WI), Wahab Riaz (Pak), Samit Patel (Eng), Ashar Zaidi (Eng), Paul van Meekeren (Ned)
Domestic Players: Babar Hayat (c), Ehsan Nawaz, Waqas Khan, Ryan Buckley, Adeel Shafrique, Hussain Butt, Hassan Khan, Simandeep Singh, Sunny Bhimsaria, Saad Mahmood, Bobby Chan

 

[MenInG]

 

[UN talkz]

Why Hussain Talat needs to play in this league when PSL is starting 10 days after this tournament

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Following criticism from Mickey Arthur regarding the number of leagues Pakistani players were being allowed to play in, PCB has withdrawn NOCs for contracted players for the Hong Kong T20 Blitz <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/958761751927033859?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[shujaatraza]

HK United and Islamabad United owners are the same.. so Hussain Talat will be looked after nicely..

 

[pakistani pride]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Following criticism from Mickey Arthur regarding the number of leagues Pakistani players were being allowed to play in, PCB has withdrawn NOCs for contracted players for the Hong Kong T20 Blitz <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/958761751927033859?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Good !

 

[mmkextreme_1]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Following criticism from Mickey Arthur regarding the number of leagues Pakistani players were being allowed to play in, PCB has withdrawn NOCs for contracted players for the Hong Kong T20 Blitz <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/958761751927033859?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Excellent news. PCB needs to put in place a more professional system that limits the number of leagues a player can play. In saying that PCB should also come up with some sort of compensation plan or increase player salaries.

Players first priority should always be full fitness and be mentally available for there respective international team.

 

[UN talkz]

Obviously PCB wont give them NOCs as they are getting any bucks...
PCB gave NOCs to 26 Players to play in Phateechar T10 league and that too b4 an important series against NZ.
I am damn sure if Hong Kong guys offer them some money, PCB will give NOCs to all players

 

[MenInG]

 

[MenInG]

Bigger, Better Blitz back in 2018

[Hong Kong]: The Cricket Hong Kong T20 Blitz presented by KPMG has grown from humble beginnings in 2016 – when two guest internationals appeared in a four-franchise competition, to this year’s 27 international stars joining 45 of Hong Kong’s best players in five franchise teams across six days of high-octane cricket.

After nearly 12 million people followed last year’s action on social media worldwide, this year Cricket Hong Kong has raised the ante yet again, with an international television broadcast set to beam the action live to as many as 175 million homes over the next week.

The tournament, which recently announced KPMG as the lead sponsor, has also attracted its first ever local television partner in i-Cable.

Last year’s runners-up City Kaitak and ambitious Hung Hom JD Jaguars launch the 2018 Hong Kong T20 Blitz when they take to the field for the first match on 6 February (2.00pm) at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground.

Picking a favourite from any of the five franchises in the 6-11 February tournament is next to impossible… There is an equal sprinkling of quality overseas and local talent throughout the teams and the unpredictable nature of T20 cricket means it’s anyone’s game.

City Kaitak are eager to improve on their outstanding performance in 2017 when they reached the final, only to be beaten by a Babar Hayat–inspired Kowloon Cantons – and have the quality to go all the way.

Their overseas contingent comprises West Indies’ Samuel Badree and Rayad Emrit, who proved a popular player at the 2017 event. They are joined by Pakistan’s T20 world-record holder Sohail Tanvir, whose pace bowling is likely to be a feature of a tournament in which batting usually dominates.

England’s Ravi Bopara and Scotland’s Kyle Coetzer, who sparkled with the bat in 2017, add to the depth of Kaitak, who also boast one of Hong Kong’s best players in Anshuman Rath. Kaitak’s domestic ranks are bolstered by the likes of captain Aizaz Khan, Waqas Barkat, Jamie Atkinson and Raag Kapur, among others.

Jaguars, meanwhile, have retained the likes of World Cup-winning captain Darren Sammy in their bid for glory. Jaguars will be relying on Sammy to boost their hopes after winning two matches last year.

The team is skippered by Hong Kong’s Kinchit Shah and have an ace in their sleeve with Nizakat Khan, who scored a century last year, as well as overseas players Ben Laughlin (Australia), Riki Wessels (England), Johan Botha (South Africa) and Dutchman Roelof van der Merwe.

City Kaitak are in action again the next day against Hong Kong Island United, who are the sister side of Pakistan’s Islamabad United and feature a strong overseas line-up in Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Irfan and Hussain Talat (Pakistan), South African David Wiese, New Zealand’s Luke Ronchi and Ryan ten Doeschate, of the Netherlands.

Former Hong Kong captain Tanwir Afzaal, Chris Carter and Ehsan Khan are all among the local talent available for United.

Defending champions Kowloon Cantons and Galaxy Gladiators Lantau emerge for the first time in the tournament in the second match on Wednesday, February 7.

Kowloon Cantons are hoping for their third straight title and have recruited the ever-reliable Dwayne Smith, along with Pakistani express bowler Wahab Riaz, England’s Samit Patel and Ashar Zaidi and Dutchman Paul van Meekeren.

Cantons have the benefit of fielding one of Hong Kong’s best players in national captain Babar Hayat, who was man of the match in last year’s final. Other domestic players include Ehsan Nawaz, Waqas Khan and Ryan Buckley.

Gladiators, though have one of the biggest names in world cricket in Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara, who is joined by New Zealand’s James Franklin and Anton Devcich, South African Cameron Deport, England’s Jade Dernbach, and Chetan Suryawanshi. Sussex star bowler Jofra Archer has withdrawn on the eve of the tournament being injured in the Big Bash League in Australia. The international contingent will be backed up by local players Karandeep Singh, Haroon Arshad, Imran Arif and Shahid Wasif.

While the quality of players is sure to guarantee exciting cricket for the fans, the Blitz is more than a tournament that simply offers a trophy to the winners. It is also about engaging with Hong Kong’s growing cricket community, which is benefiting from Cricket Hong Kong’s efforts to develop the game through tournaments such as the Blitz and the Hong Kong World Sixes, which returned to the calendar in 2017 after a long hiatus.

 

[ZyzzBrah]

On a side note, does anyone remember when Umar Akmal set this league on fire smashing sixes every ball every game. Oh and Pakistan losing when they had 40 odd to defend in the last over

 

[Abdullah719]

On a side note, does anyone remember when Umar Akmal set this league on fire smashing sixes every ball every game. Oh and Pakistan losing when they had 40 odd to defend in the last over

You may be referring to the Hong Kong Sixes... this is a T20 league.

 

[Abdullah719]

Jofra Archer has withdrawn from the event and is replaced by Anton Devcich for Galaxy Gladiators Lantau.

 

[giri26]

Another league, I feel these leagues are good for retired players but not for players currently playing international cricket. Every month a league pops out in some country or the other.

 

[AssassinatedDevil]

1st Match at Mission Road Ground, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

City Kaitak

Hung Hom Jaguars

Match scheduled to begin in 21 minutes(14:00 local | 06:00 GMT | 09:00 AST)

 

[AssassinatedDevil]

Sohail Tanvir only scored 2 runs from 4 balls

 

[MenInG]

Good start in the #HKT20Blitz for Sohail Tanvir as he takes 1 wicket for 20 runs in 4 overs for his team City Kaitak in their game against Hung Hom Jaguars #Cricket

 

[MenInG]

PRESS RELEASE

Hung Hom Jaguars beat City Kaitak by six wickets in Hong Kong T20 Blitz opener

[Hong Kong, 6 February 2018]: Cali-Mex Hung Hom JD Jaguars defeated City Kaitak by six wickets in the opening match of the Hong Kong T20 Blitz, presented by KPMG, on Tuesday at the Mission Road ground in Mong Kok.

Jaguars captain Kinchit Shah won the toss and sent 2017 runners-up Kaitak into bat. His decision paid quick dividends as his fellow Hong Kong player Anshuman Rath was out in the first over for six runs, bowled by Johan Botha.

Within six overs, Kaitak were down three wickets with Scotland’s Kyle Coetzer (2) and England’s Ravi Bopara (11) both back in the pavilion.

Kaitak eventually made 132 for six in their 20 overs with Australian Ben Laughlin, who won man of the match honours, taking two for 19 in his four overs for Jaguars.

Botha also grabbed two wickets, at the cost of 30 runs, with Kyle Christie and Nadeem Ahmed accounting for a wicket each.

Hong Kong player Aizaz Khan scored the first half-century of the tournament with a 52 that briefly gave Kaitak hope of a high score, but he was eventually bowled by Laughlin.

Also scoring for Kaitak was Waqas Barkat, who hit 30. There were only four sixes in the entire Kaitak innings, three from Khan and one from Barkat.

In reply, Jaguars reached 138 for four wickets in 17.4 overs as West Indies’ two-time World Cup-winning captain Darren Sammy hit a winning six off Manjinder Singh on the final ball.

Hong Kong’s Nizakat Khan, player of the tournament at the recent Hong Kong World Sixes, top-scored for Jaguars with 48 off 38 deliveries, including two sixes and four fours.

Skipper Shah hit 22 in 26 balls and was delighted with the decision to put Kaitak into bat.

"We saw the wicket and we felt that if we can restrict them in the first six overs, it would give us the advantage and that's what happened. They were three wickets down after six overs and we bowled really well," said Shah.

Kaitak batsman Rath said: “Yeah, 132 was not enough on this wicket. Give credit where credit is due, Jaguars bowled really well. We now have to regroup.

“We don't have much time to analyse because it's a short tournament but we have the players and the talent and the skills to do well. It's only one match so we are looking forward to our next game.”

Indeed, Kaitak will soon be back on the pitch, facing Hong Kong Island United, in the early game on Wednesday (10.00am).

Wednesday’s second fixture sees defending champions Kowloon Cantons take on Galaxy Gladiators Lantau, who feature Sri Lankan star Kumar Sangakkara.

 

[MenInG]

19 runs for Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Irfan also playing and took no wickets for 34

Sohail Tanvir has one wicket so far

Feb 7, 20182nd Match at Mission Road Ground, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

City Kaitak 195/4 (20 ov)

Hong Kong Island United 82/5 (11.5/20 ov)

Hong Kong Island United require another 114 runs with 5 wickets and 49 balls remaining

 

[AssassinatedDevil]

City Kaitak won by 26 runs.

Mohammed Irfan bowled 4 overs and gave 34 runs. Took no wickets

Kamran Akmal 19 runs off 12 balls

Sohail Tanvir bowled 4 overs and gave 37 runs. 2 wickets

 

[AssassinatedDevil]

 

[AssassinatedDevil]

Coetzer scores first T20 century as City Kaitak bounce back to beat HKI United; defending champions Kowloon Cantons overcome Galaxy Gladiators Lantau

[Hong Kong, 7 February 2018]: Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer hit his maiden century in the Twenty20 format as City Kaitak bounced back from their day one defeat to beat Hong Kong Island United by 26 runs in the Hong Kong T20 Blitz, presented by KPMG, at Mission Road.

In the second match of day two, defending champions Kowloon Cantons got their title defence off to a winning start with a 31-run victory over Galaxy Gladiators Lantau.

Coetzer hit 100 off 65 balls, with three sixes and 14 fours as his team piled up an imposing score of 195 for four off their 20 overs.

England’s Ravi Bopara contributed an unbeaten 48 from 30 balls and Hong Kong’s Anshuman Rath hit 35 as Kaitak made up for their tentative batting performance in their defeat by Hung Hom JD Jaguars on Tuesday.

“I’m very proud to score a century,” said Coetzer, who had a high score of 87 in the 2017 Blitz but was unable to reach his century.

“I was on 99 for a while and missed five or six balls, but I was really happy that I could make my first T20 century in Hong Kong.”

Dutchman Ryan ten Doeschate was United’s most successful bowler with three wickets for 42 runs. United’s giant Pakistani ace Mohammad Irfan gave away 34 runs in his four overs.

City Kaitak needed the victory because defeat would have left them with two losses in their first two matches and a slim chance of making it to the final.

Last year’s runners-up are now back in the competition and looking forward to their final two games.

“We are just taking it one match at a time. We are happy with our score and the way we bowled and we are confident we have the players to do the job,” said Rath.

Cantons put on an excellent bowling performance to restrict Gladiators in their run chase. The defending champions scored 158 in their innings, losing their 10th wicket on the final ball. With last year’s century-maker Dwayne Smith managing only 10 and captain Babar Hayat scoring 17, the Cantons struggled to make runs.

New Zealand’s James Franklin was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets for 21 runs, with Arshad Mohammad and Imran Arif grabbing two each as Cantons looked to be at least 20 runs too short.

Galaxy, after all, had the likes of Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara in their batting line-up. But Cantons had Pakistani ace Wahab Riaz as their spearhead bowler.

Cameron Delport was out first ball of their innings and Galaxy never truly recovered. Sangakkara departed for 14 with only New Zealand’s Anton Devcich (26) and Munir Dar (28) collecting more than 20 runs. Galaxy were all out for 127 runs in 19 overs with Riaz conceding a measly 14 runs in his four overs for four wickets.

“We need to improve our batting but we were always confident with our bowlers that we would defend that total,” said Cantons skipper Hayat.

“It was good to get an opening win and now we’re looking forward to our next matches.”

Sangakkara said Galaxy had every chance to win the match:
“I think their total was about 20 runs below par but the match was ours to win but we didn’t bat very well,” said Sangakkara, a former T20 World Cup winner with Sri Lanka.

Cantons return to Mission Road on Thursday for their second match on day three of the competition when they take on Hung Hom JD Jaguars in the morning match, starting at 10am.

The afternoon game at 2pm sees Hong Kong Island United playing Galaxy Gladiators Lantau, with both teams looking for their first victory.

 

[MenInG]

PRESS RELEASE

Galaxy Gladiators Lantau and Hung Hom JD Jaguars triumph
on day three of Hong Kong T20 Blitz

[Hong Kong, 8 February 2018]: Galaxy Gladiators Lantau picked up their first win and defending champions Kowloon Cantons were beaten by Hung Hom JD Jaguars on day three of the Hong Kong T20 Blitz, presented by KPMG, at Mission Road on Thursday.

Cameron Delport hit 70 off 43 balls, Anton Devcich scored 43 and took three wickets while captain Kumar Sangakkara made 35 runs as Gladiators beat Hong Kong Island United by eight wickets.

In the earlier match, Jaguars beat Cantons by six wickets with an impressive batting performance, especially from Riki Wessels, who smashed an unbeaten 91.

It was a repeat of the 2017 event, when Jaguars also beat Cantons, who then went on to win the final while Hung Hom finished third.

Sangakkara said the Hong Kong players could make the difference as Gladiators take on favourites Jaguars on their next match.

“In T20 tournaments like these, what a lot of people forget are the local players,” said Sangakkara.

“There’s six in each team and, you can talk about the overseas players but the local guys are also important. I saw the way the two [Hong Kong] boys [Babar Hayat and Ahsan Abbasi] batted and they could make the difference.”

Gladiators have one victory from two matches along with Cantons and City Kaitak while Jaguars lead the table with two wins from two. Gladiators now back up against Jaguars in the first match of Friday’s schedule with Cantons taking on City Kaitak.

In their loss to Cantons on Wednesday, Gladiators failed to chase 159. They faced the exact same target against United but this time they were much more composed in their pursuit with measured explosiveness ensuring they were never in trouble.

Man of the match Devcich’s batting exploits came soon after he took three wickets for 28 runs off four overs during United’s innings.

Delport faced 43 balls and smashed five sixes and six fours in his innings.
United were five wickets down for 28 runs in the seventh over but staged a good comeback with Abbasi scoring 45 off 42 balls and Zeeshan Ali hammering 56 to ensure Gladiators would have to work to win the match.

United coach Charlie Burke blamed “irresponsible” batting for their defeat but is hopeful of winning their last two matches against Jaguars and Cantons.

“We lost wickets in the powerplay and you can’t be three or four wickets down in the powerplay, so we were always going to be coming up short,” said Burke.

“With the ball we had a few chances but missed some catches and with only 160 on the board you can’t afford to do that.”

The bowling highlight for United was 2.16m Mohammad Irfan’s four overs, which cost only 16 runs and yielded one wicket.

Hong Kong captain Babar Hayat hit 89 for Cantons and Samit Patel scored 54 in what appeared to be a challenging total of 172 for six. However, Jaguars made it look easy as they reached their target in only 14.2 overs.

Wessels’ 91 runs came off 37 deliveries to win man of the match honours. He plundered seven sixes and eight fours to stay unbeaten, and was supported by Johan Botha, who hit 44.

Despite the loss, Cantons CEO Urvashi Sodhi-Sethi was confident of moving into the final. “It’s a good omen,” she said, referring to the fact that they also lost to Jaguars last year before going on to win the tournament.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

The ground is pretty small.

 

[giri26]

Second Match of the day between Kowloon Cantons vs City Kaitak starts in 1 hour 20 minutes:

Sohail Tanvir will go head to head with Wahab Riaz in today's game. Below are the squads of both the teams:

City Kaitak (From): Kyle Coetzer, Anshuman Rath, Ravi Bopara, Jamie Atkinson(w), Waqas Barkat, Aizaz Khan, Rayad Emrit(c), Sohail Tanvir, Raag Kapur, Samuel Badree, Mudassar Hussain, Ishtiaq Muhammad, Manjinder Singh, Kalhan Challu, Muhammad Umar, Siegfried Wai

Kowloon Cantons (From): Dwayne Smith, Babar Hayat(c), Waqas Khan, Samit Patel, Ashar Zaidi, Ryan Buckley, Wahab Riaz, Simandeep Singh, Adeel Shafique(w), Ehsan Nawaz, Paul van Meekeren, Sunny Bhimsaria, Bobby Chan, Hassan Khan Mohammad, Hussain Butt, Saad Mohammad

 

[MenInG]

Good news too from Sohail Tanvir at the #HKT20Blitz where he has taken 2/17 in his 4 overs for his team City Kaitak in their ongoing clash against Kowloon Cantons; Let's see if Wahab Riaz can match Sohail Tanvir with his own fireworks with the bowling #Cricket

 

[MenInG]

Stellar all-round performance by the Player-of-the-Match Sohail Tanvir as he claimed 2/17 and then hit 46* (2x4s, 4x6s) to take his team, City Kaitak to a 6 wickets victory against Kowloon Cantons #HKT20Blitz #Cricket

 

[AssassinatedDevil]

GGL won against CK by 5 wickets. They chased down 136 with 10 balls remaining

 

[UN talkz]

Hung Hom JD Jaguars

Nizakat Khan, Kinchit Shah, Riki Wessels, Johan Botha, Roelof van der Merwe, Darren Sammy, Damien Yee, Kyle Christie, Tanveer Ahmed, Ninad Shah, Ben Laughlin

Hong Kong Island United

Luke Ronchi, Kamran Akmal , Yasim Murtaza, Zeeshan Ali, Christopher Carter, David Wiese, Ahsan Abbasi, Hussain Talat, Tanwir Afzal, Ehsan Khan, Mohammad Irfan

 

[UN talkz]

Hussain Talat bowling atm

 

[UN talkz]

Irfan 1 0 3 0
Talat 1 0 8 1

 

[Kashmiri_Pak_fan]

What is length of boundaries in this tournament?

 

[MenInG]

Kamran Akmal gone for 13

 

[ask_analyse_act]

zeeshan ali's wicket was funny to watch..

 

[ask_analyse_act]

hussain talat so called replacement for hafeez struggled to hit and gone now..

 

[DRsohail]

hussain talat so called replacement for hafeez struggled to hit and gone now..

so hong kong is a plateform where u judge players?

 

[MenInG]

 

[Abdullah719]

Kumar Sangakkara and Darren Sammy to star in T20 Blitz finale as Galaxy Gladiators Lantau and Hung Hom JD Jaguars reach final

[Hong Kong, 10 February 2018]: Galaxy Gladiators Lantau and Hung Hom JD Jaguars will meet in the final of the Hong Kong T20 Blitz, presented by KPMG, after they won their final pool games on Saturday at Mission Road (Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground).

Gladiators defeated last year’s runners-up City Kaitak by five wickets while Jaguars beat Hong Kong Island United by 57 runs on Saturday, with both teams compiling records of three victories against one loss.

Sunday’s final (2.00pm) is a repeat of the best pool game of the tournament so far when Gladiators edged Jaguars by six runs after setting a tournament record of 228 in their 20 overs.

Gladiators’ Hong Kong player Dan Pascoe, who celebrates his wickets with a “gunman” pose from his love of Gangsta Rap, took man of the match honours after captain Kumar Sangakkara – who scored an unbeaten 94 – gifted him the award.

Pascoe took two wickets for 25 runs in his four overs, restricting Kaitak to 136 all out in 18.1 overs before Sangakkara led Gladiators to 139 for five in 18.2 overs.

Sangakkara was initially chosen as man of the match but said Pascoe – a law lecturer at Hong Kong’s City University – deserved it more.

“I’d like to thank Kumar Sangakkara. It’s not often a guy scores 94 not out in a score of 139 and someone else wins man of the match,” said Pascoe, who was a late recruit to the Gladiators team after initially missing out on selection.

Pascoe’s favourite celebration when taking a wicket is forming his fingers into a gun shape, “shooting” the air and then blowing on the tips, while saying “The gangsta rap made me do it” – from the video by Ice Cube.

“Yeah, it’s basically from that video. I’m really into gangsta rap, my brother got me into it,” said Pascoe, who played top-grade cricket for Oxford University as well as Australia Capital Territory. “In that video, Ice Cube said ‘gangsta rap made me do it’, and as for my celebrations, gangsta rap made me do it.”

Sangakkara scored his second straight half-century but was happy to give the main award to Pascoe.
“Well, I think he deserved it. To restrict a team like that to 136 with these [small] dimensions [at Mission Road], is a great effort," said the former T20 World Cup winner.

Kaitak got off to a slow start and lost Anshuman Rath in the sixth over after he was bowled by Imran Arif.
Gladiators kept picking up wickets with Arif and James Franklin taking three each and Pascoe grabbing two.

England’s Ravi Bopara was Kaitak’s most successful batsman, scoring 37 off 30 balls while opener Kyle Coetzer hit 24 off 28. Kaitak have two wins and two losses from their four matches.

In the second match, Jaguars scored a challenging 187 for three in their innings with Johan Botha hitting 86 not out and captain Kinchit Shah making 65.

United were never in the running after losing early wickets, finishing on 130 all out in 19.2 overs.

United will face last year’s winners Kowloon Cantons in the final pool game on Sunday in the battle for third place (10.00am).

Jaguars’ Darren Sammy, a two-time World Cup-winning captain, said he was happy to let Hong Kong’s Kinchit Shah skipper the side.

“It’s not my team. They have a captain, Kinchit Shah is doing a very good job and we are in the final,” said Sammy.

“Whatever team I am in, whether I’m captain or not, I will still play a leadership role.

“That’s why I’m here, to have an impact, whether it would be with my performance or in the dressing room. I try to do my best.”

 

[Abdullah719]

HKIU 50/4 in 9 overs against KC.

Kami with 41 of those runs before he got out to Wahab.

Talat made 3. Still that's the 2nd highest score so far.....

 

[Abdullah719]

Wahab 2/15. HKIU 115/9.

 

[UN talkz]

Hung Hom JD Jaguars celebrate first-ever Hong Kong T20 Blitz title

[Hong Kong, 11 February 2018]: Hung Hom JD Jaguars were crowned champions of the 2018 Hong Kong T20 Blitz presented by KPMG after beating Galaxy Gladiators Lantau by six runs in the final at Mission Road (Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground) today.

The result was the reverse of Gladiators’ six-run win in the pool match between the two sides earlier in the week but the tension was just as high as the Lantau team, led valiantly by Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara, fell just short of their target.

Man of the match Nizakat Khan, of Hong Kong, made 93 off 52 balls as Jaguars scored 200 for seven in their 20 overs. He was supported by Johan Botha’s 36 and Darren Sammy’s cameo 21.

In reply, Gladiators managed 194 for four, despite man of the tournament Sangakkara’s 76. Jaguars captain Kinchit Shah brought himself on to bowl knowing they needed to get Sangakkara out and within a few balls the Sri Lankan was walking back to the pavilion.

That was the breakthrough Jaguars needed because Sangakkara was leading the Gladiators towards victory.

“There were two left-handed batters and I noticed Sangakkara was staying back to my deliveries so I pitched it up and he over-hit it, so I was able to get that wicket,” said Shah.

“We knew we had to get Sangakkara out for us to win. It is an amazing feeling to win, this is the best tournament in Hong Kong and to win it, it’s something that is still sinking in.”

Sangakkara, who scored half-centuries in his last three matches at the Blitz, was happy with his performance at the tournament.

“Overall it was a great tournament and final,” said Sangakkara, a former T20 World Cup winner.

“We knew it would be a tough final and I think we did well to restrict them to 200 after their good start. But there was not enough impetus from us towards the end, at around the 14th or 15th over, and we didn’t get enough runs.”

Nizakat Khan, who was also man of the tournament at October’s Hong Kong World Sixes, said he wanted to prove himself in the final after struggling in his team’s earlier matches.

“I’ve had a pretty quiet tournament and 48 runs was my best effort so I really wanted to do well in the final and I’m happy that I was able to do that,” said Nizakat.

“It was such a great experience playing with and against legends such as Sangakkara, Darren Sammy and others. I have learned a lot and hopefully this kind of success will help me in my career.”

Also scoring for Gladiators were opener Balal Muhammad with 33, Anton Devcich with 27 and James Franklin with 31.

Earlier, in the final pool match, last year’s winners Kowloon Cantons beat Hong Kong Island United by eight wickets to finish in third place with two wins from four matches.

United, who lost all their matches, scored a tournament-low 115 for nine and Cantons chased it down in 10.1 overs with Dwayne Smith hitting 46.

City Kaitak finished fourth, also with two wins, but with an inferior net run rate to Cantons.

 

[MenInG]

 

[UN talkz]

Another trophy for Daren Sammy

 

[DRsohail]

Nothing tournament.i dont,know why Talat played such a useless tournament before psl.