Champions Kowloon Cantons happy with five overseas players for 2018 Hong Kong T20 Blitz defence
Although allowed six from outside HK, they have gone with Dwayne Smith, Samit Patel, Ashar Zaidi, Wahab Riaz and Paul van Meekeren
Reigning champions Kowloon Cantons have finalised their squad for the Hong Kong T20 Blitz, with Pakistani left-arm fast bowler Wahab Riaz the final piece in the puzzle.
Wahab is joined by West Indies’ Dwayne Smith and England’s Samit Patel and Ashar Zaidi. Although six international players are allowed, Cantons have chosen to go with only five with Dutchman Paul van Meekeren completing the overseas contingent.
The squad will be led by Hong Kong captain Babar Hayat and they will be supported by some of the city’s top players. The line-up is completed by Ehsan Nawaz (retained), Waqas Khan, Ryan Buckley, Adeel Shafrique, Hussain Butt, Hassan Khan, Simandeep Singh, Sunny Bhimsaria, Saad Mahmood and Bobby Chan.
On Van Meekeran’s selection, Cantons CEO Urvashi Sethi-Sodhi said: “While our allowance is to have six international players, only five would be able to play.
“At Kowloon Cantons we continue to fulfil our promise to promote cricket and our associate nation player, Paul, will be an integral part of our playing team. With this view, we have opted for five internationals on our team.”
Cantons won the 2017 Blitz, beating City Kaitak in the final and were joint champions in the inaugural 2016 edition. This year’s Blitz takes place from February 6-11 at Mission Road.
Also competing are City Kaitak, Hung Hom JD Jaguars, Galaxy Gladiators Lantau and Hong Kong Island United.