Aloha, cricket. Hawaii goes all Twenty20

The Hawaii Premier League (HPL) was successfully launched as Hawaii’s first Twenty20 competition in October. The league is scheduled to hold tournaments twice a year each November and May. The first three teams were comprised of all-star cricket players from Oahu and Maui. The three teams wore different coloured uniforms and were named the Master Batters, Spitting Cobras and Terminators.

The tournament has plans to expand to include mainland cricket teams in 2009 before expanding further to include international teams from Asia and Oceania. The plan is to expand the Hawaii Premier League into an international competition, in a tournament structure beginning in May 2010.

The month-long competition in October featured several close matches and after six matches all three teams were level with two wins and two defeats. The Spitting Cobras and Master Batters made the final by virtue of securing the most bonus points. The final went to the Spitting Cobras who batted first and amassed 160 runs including 99 runs from 47 balls by Mark Berwick. The Master Batters got off to a promising start but were restricted to 127.