HKCC and KCC draw first blood in opening round of the 2012-13 Premier League

Hong Kong Cricket Club and Kowloon Cricket Club drew first blood in the opening round of the 2012-13 HKCA Premier League with victories over LSW Prism and Pakistan Association AMSUA respectively.

HKCC v. LSW Prism at Hong Kong Cricket Club

At Hong Kong Cricket Club, the home team and reigning Premier League champions batted first against LSW Prism after winning the toss. Tim McMahon and Charlie Bright put on 32 runs for the opening wicket before McMahon (15) fell LBW to the bowling of Waqas Khan. Bright (11) was next to go when he was caught by Suresh Pandey of the bowling of Amandeep Singh with the total on 46. David Jacquier and skipper Courtney Kruger shared a half-century stand before Jacquier was bowled by Moner Dar for 23.

Kruger and Mark Wright then shared the best stand of the match, with a partnership of 95 runs. Wright was eventually dismissed for 53 from the bowling of Safaraz Khan with the total on 192-4. Safaraz scythed through the HKCC's middle order as he picked four wickets, including that of Kruger for 68, as the home slipped to 210-7. Nizakat Khan picked up his first wicket of the day when he bowled Will Jones for 5 to leave HKCC at 221-8. HKCC's off-season recruit Daljeet Singh smote 34 runs to help lift the HKCC total to 256 and the innings ended on that score when Chris Williams was run out for 0 off the second-last ball of the innings.

For LSW Prism, Safaraz Khan was the pick of the bowlers with 4-66 from 9 overs. Nizakat Khan claimed 2-42 from 9.4 overs while Waqas Khan, Moner Dar and Amandeep Singh were the other wicket takers.

LSW Prism's reply got off to the worst possible start with Shakeel Haq bowled from the first ball by Mark Wright. Suresh Pandey and Tabarak Dar then combined for a partnership of 38 runs before Tarabak (25) was caught behind off the bowling of Vince Creagh. Pandey fell next when he was caught by Kruger off the bowling Chris Williams for 15 to leave LSW Prism at 58-3. Creagh picked up his second wicket when he bowled the dangerous Nizakat Khan for 19 with the score on 87.

Moner Dar and Amandeep Singh shared a 29-run partnership but on 27, Dar was caught by Liam Ginnivan off the bowling of Daljeet Singh. Wasif Shahid was run-out for 0 and when Amandeep (30) was bowled by Will Jones, the chase appeared all but over at 143-7. LSW Prism still had plenty of overs in hand and some enterprising batting by their tail-enders lifted the score over 200 with Sarafaz Khan (11) and Amanat Khan (19) making useful contributions. Waqas Khan finished unbeaten on 33 as LSW Prism was eventually dismissed for 218 in 42.2 overs.

For HKCC, Vince Creagh picked up 2-21 from 8 overs, including 3 maidens while Daljeet Singh (2-67 from 10) and Will Jones (2-18 for 4.2) also picked up a brace. Mark Wright, Chris Williams and Andrew Norwood were the other wicket-takers.

Score Summary:

At HKCC: Hong Kong CC 256 from 49.4 overs (Courtney Kruger 63, Mark Wright 58; Safaraz Khan 4-66) beat LSW Prism 218 from 42.2 overs (Amandeep Singh 30, Waqas Khan 33*) by 38 runs

KCC v. Pakistan Association AMSUA at Kowloon Cricket Club

Kowloon Cricket Club and Pakistan Association AMSUA faced off in the second match of the day at Kowloon Cricket Club with a delayed start of 10:30AM due to league hockey being played on the ground preceding the match.

The visitors won the toss and skipper Hussain Butt had no hesitation in electing to bat on what looked like a flat batting track. Afzaal Haider opened the bowling attack for KCC against left-handed Bukhai Daniyal and the right-handed Irfan Ahmed who had transferred to the club, with his brother Nadeem, from Little Sai Wan CC in the off-season. Irfan picked off a number of boundaries off Haider's opening two overs as Pakistan Association AMSUA raced to 20-0 off 3 overs. KCC's new speedster Imran Arif surprised Irfan with a short ball that clattered off Irfan's helmet en route to the boundary, although Irfan was credited with the runs. Arif then trapped Irfan LBW from the next delivery which wrapped him on the back pad. Arif's extra pace troubled the Pakistani batsmen and he soon picked up two more scalps as Daniyal (13) and Babar Hayat (2) fell in quick succession to leave them reeling at 43-3. Worse was to follow as Shkawat Ali was run-out for 0 and when skipper Hussain Butt (13) was clean bowled by Ateeqi Ul Rehman, Pakistan Association AMSUA had slumped to 72-5.

An enterprising 48-run stand between former Hong Kong skipper Najeeb Amar and Mudassar Hussain lifted the score to 120 but on that score Mudassar (21) was caught by Hersh Khatri off the bowling of Kinchit Shah. Four wickets fell in the space of 3 runs as Shah induced a number of false shots from the batsmen and Arif picked up two more wickets, including Amar who top-scored with 45, to bring up a five-wicket haul for KCC in his debut innings. Pakistan Association AMSUA was eventually dismissed for 141 in 40.3 overs.

For KCC, Imran Arif claimed 5-30 from his ten over spell while Kinchit Shah gabbed 3-15 from 7.3 overs.

KCC's reply got off to a poor start with Roy Lamsam caught behind for 0 off the third ball of the innings from Nadeem Ahmed. Hersh Khatri (9) was then run-out and when Dylan Dearing (3) was caught and bowled by Nadeem, KCC had slumped to 28-3. Skipper Jamie Atkinson and Waqas Barkat steadied the ship with a brief partnership but when Barkat (13) was trapped LBW by Najeeb Amar, it left KCC in a little bother at 45-4.

Sixteen year-old Kinchit Shah strode confidently to the crease to join his skipper and the youngster went after the bowling from the start. He smote a staggering seven sixes and four fours in his brilliant innings that realised 67 runs in just 38 balls. Atkinson finished things off in style, smashing two huge sixes out of the ground off Amar as KCC raced to their victory target in just 22.2 overs.

For Pakistan Association Nadeem Ahmed was the best of the bowlers with 2-31 from seven overs while Najeeb Amar was the only other wicket-taker with 1-22 from 7.4 overs.

Score Summary:

At KCC: Kowloon CC 145-4 from 22.2 overs (Jamie Atkinson 45*, Kinchit Shah 67*) beat Pakistan Association AMSUA 141 from 40.3 overs (Najeeb Amar 45; Imran Arif 5-30, Kinchit Shah 3-15) by 6 wickets