Different format, same result for Hong Kong

The change to a Twenty20 format did Hong Kong no favours as they failed to win a single game at the Air Niugini International Super Series played in Papua New Guinea.

The second phase of the competition saw the four teams - Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea - square off against each other in a Twenty20 competition with the top two teams progressing to the T20 Big Bash finale. Earlier in the tournament, Hong Kong had failed to beat any of the teams in the 50 over matches and they were hoping the change in format might produce some better results.

Hong Kong's schedule saw them playing back-to-back matches on Saturday against Malaysia and Papua New Guinea and then a third match on Sunday morning against Singapore.

In the first match, Hong Kong batted first for the first time in the tournament and they posted a useful total of 5-162 from their 50 overs. Unfortunately the Hong Kong bowlers weren't able to contain the Malaysian batsmen as Madhavan (48*), Navaratnam (31) and Arudin (41*) steered Malaysia to a six-wicket victory in 19 overs. (Note - Hong Kong's batting and bowling figures are not currently available for this match.)

In Hong Kong's second match, Papua New Guinea batted first and scored 5-125 from their 20 overs with Dai top-scoring with 42. Hong Kong's reply was dismal as they were skittled for 55 runs in 15.3 overs with Farooq Saeed the only batsman to reach double figures. Hong Kong's cause was not helped by three run-outs.

With no chance of making the T20 Big Bash Final, Hong Kong faced Singapore in their final Twenty20 match on Sunday morning. Once again, Hong Kong lost the toss and found themselves fielding in the first innings. The Singapore openers built a solid partnership worth 69 runs before Hong Kong made its first breakthrough. Suryawanshi led the way with 49 runs while Arora scored 40 as Singapore posted 9-154 from their 20 overs. Hong Kong's reply got off to another poor start as they slipped to 3-21. Roy Lamsam (52) and Nick Lau (30) lifted the score to 90 but the scoring rate was too slow and another flurry of wickets sealed Hong Kong's fate. They eventually finished on 6-117 from their 20 overs.

Air Niugini International Super Series - Twenty20 Scorecards*:

*Scorecards are provided by Cricket PNG and may contain some errors.

Hong Kong's overall results from the tournament make dismal reading, having played six and lost six. However, although the tournament was winless for Hong Kong but it was far from pointless as National Coach Charlie Burke would have gained some valuable insight into his players abilities and the size of the challenge that confronts him in the months ahead.

Although this wasn't a full strength Hong Kong team, with a number of key players missing, which was playing out of season and with no opportunity to acclimatise or familiarise themselves with conditions in Papua New Guinea, it is clear that Hong Kong's coaching staff have plenty to work on before the Asia Games in November 2010 (featuring Singapore and Malaysia) and the ICC World Cricket League Division Three tournament in January 2011 (featuring Papua New Guinea).