HK coach's batting masterclass
Lou Vincent, Hong Kong's new batting coach, showed how it was done as he smashed a century to lead the Woodworm All Stars to a two-wicket victory over the Rest of the World in the first Twenty20 match on local soil.
It was a run-glut at the pocket-sized Kowloon Cricket Club with a massive 740 scored in the Twenty20 exhibition which wrapped up play on the opening day of the Karp Group Hong Kong Sixes.
It rained sixes, first from the bats of the combined World team with players like England's Darren Stevens (105), India's Dinesh Karthik (52), and Calum MacLeod (60) making the most of the short boundaries as they totalled 368 for six.
Then it was the turn of All Stars such as Sanath Jayasuriya (83), Shahid Afridi (63) and Ryan ten Doeshcate (47). But New Zealander Vincent overshadowed everyone else with his clean hitting, as he succesfully led the chase with two balls to spare.
The first specialist batting coach for Hong Kong - in December the senior squad travels to Kathmandu, Nepal for the ACC Twenty20, the first of two qualifiers for the World Cup Twenty20 - Vincent gave a masterclass and was simply unstoppable. If his first three shots are any indication - all reverse sweeps off Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa - then the Hong Kong batsmen will have to be on their toes as improvisation will be the order of the day.
Vincent raced to his half-century off just 15 deliveries - Afridi needed 19 - and then kept the tempo up as he reached his ton off just 29 balls. He finished unbeaten on 121 which included 11 sixes and 13 boundaries.
'It was nice to practise what I preach,' said Vincent. 'My batting philosophy is to play straight and late. I have been with the Hong Kong team for two weeks now and I have been sharing it with them. Some of these guys hit it better than I, and I'm sure the Hong Kong boys will be raising their bats soon [in scoring a hundred].'
A total of 74 sixes, and a similar number of fours, were hit by the batsmen from both sides as the Hong Kong Cricket Association experimented for the first time with a Twenty20 game at the Sixes.
'This is the first time we have played on a Friday and had a Twenty20 match and it was good to see so many people [1,500] turn up,' said Dinesh Tandon, HKCA chairman in declaring the event a success.
'What we have seen today is evidence that there is potential to have this as a permanent fixture. Yes, the scores were big, but that was in keeping with the spirit of the tournament. Maybe if we were to host a serious Twenty20 game, we would then need a bigger ground,' said Tandon.
The players would agree. Fielding was the easiest job yesterday. Players on the fielding side - nine due to the small nature of the ground - hardly moved as the ball sailed over their heads.
Bowlers had a forgettable day. Leg-spinner Afridi, the top wicket-taker at this year's World Cup went for 43 runs from two overs. Jayasuriya's left-arm spin was smacked to the tune of 55 from two overs. It was the same unflattering figures for the bowlers in the Rest of the World lineup with skipper Abdul Razzaq's being the best, taking two for 64 off his four overs.
It was tailormade for batsmen, and if Vincent can now get his new charges to play like he did yesterday, Hong Kong's future seems to be in safe hands.
The victory will also put the All Stars in the right frame of mind as they get their Sixes campaign underway today with pool games against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Scotland.
