Hong Kong women bounce back to revive ICC T20 World Cup cricket hopes with four-wicket victory over Malaysia
- Skipper Kary Chan wins player of the match award with an unbeaten 38 and two wickets for their second win in three games
- Hong Kong were two wickets down for no runs before Chan and Mariko Hill rebuilt the innings with a 69-run partnership
Captain Kary Chan and Mariko Hill rescued Hong Kong from a precarious position on Thursday with a 69-run, third-wicket partnership that earned them a four-wicket victory over Malaysia in Dubai and kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup finals.
After Hong Kong lost two wickets for zero runs in the first six balls, Chan joined Hill at the crease as they set about repairing the innings in their chase of Malaysia’s 101 for five. It was Hong Kong’s second win from three matches in the Asia qualifiers, equal on four points with Nepal, whom Hong Kong beat in their first match.
Chan, who earlier took two wickets, smashed an unbeaten 38 from 40 balls with three fours while Hill hit 36 in 35 deliveries, also with three boundaries, as Hong Kong reached their target in 17.4 overs.
United Arab Emirates, who beat Hong Kong in their previous meeting, were playing Bhutan on Thursday searching for their third win. Hong Kong and Nepal have two wins from three games with only the winners of the six-team competition advancing to the next stage of qualifying en route to the 2023 finals in South Africa.
Hong Kong will need UAE to lose at least one match if they are to win the tournament and Chan said there was still much work to do.
“It was quite good, but we can’t relax because we have two more games to go,” Chan said. “I think it is not just because of myself, I also have my team to support me. When I’m batting, it’s not just because of me, Mariko was partnering me, and then when Lemon [Cheung – the wicketkeeper 11 off five] came in she scored a few boundaries.
“With the bowling, because we have good pressure that’s why I can get the wickets. It’s not just me, it’s the whole team. It helps my confidence, and it means I don’t worry as much. Today we lost two early wickets, but we could still control the game.”
Hong Kong won the toss for the third game in a row and elected to field, with Malaysia’s Mas Elysia top-scoring for her side with 38 before being caught and bowled by Kary Chan. Wan Julia’s 19 and Mahirah Izzati Ismail’s 18 were Malaysia’s only other scores in double figures as Hong Kong faced a relatively easy chase.
However, they were soon in trouble with opener Shanzeen Shahzad and No 3 Natasha Miles both falling for ducks, each facing three deliveries. Chan and Hill then stabilised the innings before Hill was bowled by Aina Hamizah Hashim in the 12th over as Hong Kong stumbled with Emma Lai and Maryam Bibi falling cheaply.
Cheung add a quick-fire 11 to help Hong Kong edge closer to their target, eventually coming home for the loss of six wickets.
“We added some stress at the end that we could have done without. In years gone by that same position we would have panicked and probably ended up a few runs short,” Hong Kong coach Chris Pickett said. “Pleased for the girls. Kary batted very well down the spine of the team, and then obviously Mariko batted well with her too.
“Obviously we lost two early wickets, it isn’t what you want, but again, that’s another sign.
“We’ve got two wins against the top three sides apart from us. That’s things we haven’t done in the past as well, we’ve tended to pick off the weaker teams, and then lost to the properly ranked teams.
“Today was probably a good test, we’ve come out of the blocks quite well, we’ve then had a knockback against UAE, and it was whether we were going to carry on going down or pull ourselves back up.”
