Pakistan Association complete Saturday/Sunday League double

Pakistan Association proved themselves the top cricket club in Hong Kong for 2010-11 as they routed Carnegies SLCC by 9 wickets in the Sunday League Grand Final last Sunday, to go with the Saturday League crown they secured the previous weekend. Other title-winning teams for the 2010-11 season are LSW JKN (Sunday Cup T20) and HKCC Willow Wilders (Women's League).

In the Sunday League Grand Final, Pakistan Association won a vital toss and inserted Carnegies Sri Lankans CC after morning rain had forced a 45-minute delay to the start of the game. With the match reduced to 42 overs per side, the Pakistan Association bowlers made short work of the SLCC batting line-up, dismissing them for just 87 runs in 24.2 overs. Ibrez Syed (30) and Himmat Shekhawat (22) were the only batsmen to make double figures as Aizaz Khan (3-34) and Najeeb Amar (3-19) ran through the line-up, almost with impunity.

In reply, imran Ahmed (51*) and Ankur Sharma (31*) were untroubled as they took Pakistan Association to a deserved victory in under 14 overs - the match wrapped up well before the scheduled lunch break.

It was a disappointing performance by a SLCC team that had deservedly reached the final after earlier impressing with seven victories in the regular league season. The SLCC team has made a remarkable improvement this year, having finished bottom of the the Sunday League table in 2009-10.

Pakistan Association had been the best-performed team throughout the 2010-11 Sunday League season, finishing top of the points table with a 10-win 2-loss record from their 12 matches.

The 2010-11 Sunday League crown gave Pakistan Association their third Sunday title in as many years, going with their Sunday Cup title in 2008-09 and their Sunday League Grand Final victory in 2009-10.

Pakistan Club had been equally impressive in capturing the Saturday League title against LSW Warriors in the Saturday League Grand Final played at HKCC on 7th May.

Batting first, Pakistan Club amassed 240 all out from their 35 overs with Babar Hayat scoring 115 while Nadeen Ahmed claimed 3-34 with his left-arm spinners. The LSW Warriors batsmen weren't up to the challenge as they were dismissed for 115 in reply with Rafaqat Ali (3-20) and Mudassar Hussain (4-8) doing most of the damage with the ball.

It was a disappointing end to the LSW Warriors campaign which had seen them finish the round-robin section of the competition in top spot with a 13-win, 1-loss record from 14 matches.

It wasn't all bad news for the Little Sai Wan Club however as the LSW JKN team wrapped up the inaugural Sunday Cup T20 competition with an unbeaten record over ten matches.

Vagabonds finished second in the Sunday Cup T20 standings while Pakistan Association came third (there was no Sunday Cup T20 grand final played).

The HKCC Willow Wielders were crowned champions of Women's cricket in Hong Kong for 2010-11 when they beat Lamma CC by seven wickets in the Women's League Grand Final played at St Stephen's College on 8th May. It was another low-scoring affair with Lamma dismissed for 88 runs in 18.2 overs after being asked to bat by the Willow Wielders. The HKCC women grabbed the key wicket of Neisha Pratt in the first over and from then on, Lamma struggled to put a decent total on the board with Jos Jensen (38) the only Lamma batter to reach double figures. Mariko Hill did the damage for the Willow Wielders as she picked up 3-35 from 7.2 overs while Ishitaa Gidwani and Annie Ho grabbed two wickets each. Hill then led the chase with a fine 33 and with Yasmin Daswani pitching in with 27 runs, the modest victory target was reached in just 11.5 overs.

The Willow Wielders victory was no surprise as the team had dominated the round-robin competition, finishing with a 9-win, 1-loss record. Lamma finished second in the Women's League ladder while KCC Maidens finished third.