Hong Kong teen Haroon Arshad the hero for Gladiators in Blitz victory over Jaguars
Defending champions Kowloon Cantons suffer their second defeat, going down to City Kaitak
Teenager Haroon Arshad was given the ball for the final over against a team who needed 15 runs for victory and were averaging much more than that in the previous few overs.
The pressure on the Hong Kong player was intense. Defeat would effectively end Galaxy Gladiators Lantau’s hopes and he was being relied upon by skipper Kumar Sangakkara to ensure their opponents Hung Hom JD Jaguars would fail in their bid to chase a record 229.
The 18-year-old repaid the faith put in him by bowling a tight over and claiming the crucial wicket of free-hitting Roelof van der Merwe to give Gladiators a six-run victory and inflict on Jaguars their first defeat of the tournament.
In the other match, City Kaitak beat defending champions Kowloon Cantons by six wickets.
“I was a bit nervous but I was told before that I would bowl the last over so I was mentally prepared. Basically the guys told me to bowl straight and full and it swung on a couple of balls that helped me get wickets,” said Arshad, who took four for 48 in four overs to win the man of the match award.
“It was a relief to get Van der Merwe out, I was just going according to the plan I had in mind.”
Gladiators scored a record 228 off their 20 overs, the highest score in Blitz history, beating Cantons’ 222. Sangakkara scored 92, Anton Devcich hit 56 and Balal Muhammad 44 to set Jaguars a daunting target.
But Jaguars showed earlier in the tournament that they were adept at chasing, no matter how high the score. And it appeared that they had the measure of the Gladiators bowlers as Van der Merwe led an onslaught of sixes and fours to score 75, supported by Darren Sammy (33), Johan Botha (29) and Riki Wessels (37).