Hong Kong Sixes 2024, hosts defeat New Zealand, Nepal stun England
Hong Kong ; Sports Link
The Hong Kong Sixes 2024 started off with a bang at the Tin Kwong Road Cricket Ground as Day 1 of the tournament saw fireworks being unleashed from the batters. The tournament opener between the hosts Hong Kong and South Africa turned out to be a proper entertainer as both sides put up an aggressive show with the bat. Batting first, the home side posted a massive 92/0 in 6 overs with Zeeshan Ali remaining unbeaten at 38 off 18 and skipper Nizakat Khan scoring 45* off 18. The South African batters replied in perfect manner and chased down the target with 3 wickets to spare in just 4.4 overs. Jacques Snyman struck 27 off 10 while captain JJ Smuts chipped in with 21 off 9. Modiri Litheko scored 12 off 4 and the rest of the job was done by Evan Jones (20* off 5) and Aubrey Swanepoel (10* off 2). Nepal faced England in the second fixture of the day. The Asian side stunned everyone as they clinched a 6-wicket win after chasing down a target of 98 in just 4.2 overs. Captain and wicket-keeper batter Sundeep Jora was the architect of this win for Nepal as he struck a fifty in just 12 deliveries before retiring. Opener Lokesh Bam (20* off 11) and Rashid Khan (21* off 5) later took the side home in a convincing manner. Earlier, batting first, England lost Alex Davies for a first ball-zero but experienced campaigners Ravi Bopara and Samit Patel provided the resistance with a partnership of 60 runs. Bopara scored 49 off 12 balls. Patel, on the other side, made a contribution of 39 off 17 as England eventually put up 97/6 in 5.5 overs. The fourth encounter of the day saw Sri Lanka taking away an easy win against Oman by 4 wickets. Oman put up 80/2 in 6 overs after captain Vinayak Shukla scored 50 off 18 before getting retired. Hong Kong made a solid comeback in the competition after defeating New Zealand in the fifth match of the day. The home team scored a mammoth 127/4 in 6 overs, courtesy a 16-ball 62 from captain Nizakat Khan and Sahal Malvernkar's 51* off 20. Later, bowlers did the job for Hong Kong and restricted the Kiwis to 100/4 to win the match by 27 runs.
