Captain Razzaq smashed 63 not out, while the left-handed Tanvir battered 58, as Pakistan set an imposing target of 155.

It was too much for England who regularly lost wickets before being bowled out with two balls left in the final eight-ball over, sparking jubilation among most of the 4 500-strong crowd at the Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC).

The victory saw Pakistan draw level with England as the team with the most number of wins at the big-hitting event – each on five. South Africa, who were disappointing over the weekend have won at the KCC three time: 1995, 2006 and 2009.

But Pakistan warned they will be back for more.

A  jubilant Pakistan celebrates with the spoils (Pic: Victor Fraile, The Power of Sport Images/HKCA)

“We are delighted to have matched England with five wins a piece. But we want to make it six next year,” said skipper Abdul Razzaq who was named Man-of-the-Match.

“It was a superb batting display,” conceded England captain Rory Hamilton-Brown. “We were up against some world-class players and getting to the final itself was creditable for us.”

Pakistan had looked in good nick for the event and even outshone the All Star team boasting countryman Shahid Afridi and Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya.

The All Stars bowed out in the quarter-finals, failing to defend a sizeable total of 118 against Sri Lanka who made it home in the very last delivery.

The Ben Hollioake award for Player-of-the-Tournament went to Pakistan’s Umar Akmal who aggregated 197 runs and set the event alight with his fierce batting.

Thankfully, I made it to the Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC) just in time for the third match of the day:

South Africa vs. Australia.

I’m not sure if the South Africans managed to catch any rugby last night, but the Lions’ win in the Currie Cup Final seemed to have motivated them against the Aussies.

South Africa managed their first win in four starts at the 2011 Karp Group Hong Kong Sixes, thumping Australia by 47 runs.  The win however, was but a morale-boosting exercise as both teams were eliminated from the competition on Day 2.

The fixtures for Day 3 are:

08h30 China Women vs. HK Women

09h15  Bangladesh vs. New Zealand

10h00  Australia vs. South Africa (Result: South Africa DEFEAT Australia by 47 runs)

10h45 1st quarter-final Woodworm All Stars vs. Sri Lanka (Result: Sri Lanka DEFEAT Woodworm All Stars)

11h30  2nd quarter-final England vs. India (Result: England DEFEAT India)

12h15  3rd quarter-final Hong Kong vs. Scotland (Result: Hong Kong DEFEAT Scotland)

13h00  4th quarter-final Ireland vs. Pakistan (Result: Pakistan DEFEAT Ireland)

13h45  Exhibition match: China vs. HK Development team

14h30 1st Semi-final: Sri Lanka vs. England (Result: England DEFEAT Sri Lanka)

15h15 2nd Semi-final: Hong Kong vs. Pakistan (Result: Pakistan DEFEAT Hong Kong)

16h15  Final England vs. Pakistan

Congratulations to Pakistan with their comprehensive victory over England to secure the 2011 Karp Group Hong Kong Sixes title for the fifth time.

Images and summaries to follow…

The stands are slowly filling up in anticipation of a full day of exciting cricket.

That the host team Hong Kong just beat crowd-favorites Pakistan will certainly do much for the spirit in the bleachers.  Let’s hope we can get a full-house today.

The fixtures for the day:

0845-0930 Pakistan v. Hong Kong (Result: Hong Kong DEFEAT Pakistan)

0930-1015 Australia v. Bangladesh (Result: Bangladesh DEFEAT Australia)

1015-1100 Woodworm All Stars v. Scotland (Result: Scotland DEFEAT Woodworm All Stars by 5 wickets)

1100-1145 South Africa v. India (Result: India DEFEAT South Africa by 5 runs)

1145-1230 Sri Lanka v. New Zealand (Result: Sri Lanka DEFEAT New Zealand)

1230-1315 England v. Ireland (Result: Ireland DEFEAT England)

1315-1400 South Africa v. Hong Kong (Result: Hong Kong DEFEAT South Africa)

1400-1445 Woodworm All Stars v. Sri Lanka (Result: Woodworm All Stars DEFEAT Sri Lanka)

1445-1530 Pakistan v. India (Result: Pakistan DEFEAT India)

1530-1615 Australia v. England (Result: England DEFEAT Australia)

1615-1700 Woodworm All Stars v. New Zealand (Result: All Stars DEFEAT New Zealand)

Through to tomorrow’s quarter-finals of the Karp Group Hong Kong Sixes are:

Scotland, Sri Lanka, Woodworm All Stars, Ireland, England, India, Hong Kong and Pakistan

Losing out on a quarter-final spot are:

South Africa, Australia, Bangladesh and New Zealand.

Video: SA vs India (final over)

Mangaliso Mosehle is caught (SA vs.Hong Kong)

Mangaliso Mosehle is caught (SA vs. India)

Pool A

29 Oct (10:15 AM) Woodworm All Stars v Scotland

29 Oct (11:45 AM) Sri Lanka v New Zealand

29 Oct (2:00 PM) Woodworm All Stars v Sri Lanka

29 Oct (4:15 PM) Woodworm All Stars v New Zealand

Pool B

29 Oct (9:30 AM) Australia v Bangladesh

29 Oct (12:30 PM) England v Ireland

29 Oct (3:30 PM) Australia v England

Pool C

29 Oct (8:45 AM) Pakistan v Hong Kong

29 Oct (11:00 AM) South Africa v India

29 Oct (1:15 PM) South Africa v Hong Kong

29 Oct (2:45 PM) Pakistan v India

If you have access to Supersport on DSTV (Southern Africa), Supersport 7 will be showing all 11 matches live. Here is the schedule (SA matches in green, time is South Africa)

For the latest from the Karp Group Hong Kong sixes, follow @BlitzBokke on Twitter

The day started off in glorious sunshine with a schools exhibition match at the diminutive ground in Cox’s Road.

I will only be heading over there in the afternoon, but will update this page as the scores come into my Inbox.

You can also follow me on Twitter @BlitzBokke

Round 1 (Friday 28 Ocotber 2011)

09:30 Sri Lanka vs. Scotland POOL A (Result: Sri Lanka DEFEAT Scotland by 30 runs)

10:15 Bangladesh vs. Ireland POOL B (Result: Ireland DEFEAT Bangladesh)

11:00 India vs. Hong Kong POOL C (Result: India DEFEAT Hong Kong by 5 wickets)

11:45 Pakistan vs. South Africa POOL C (Result: Pakistan DEFEAT South Africa by 23 runs)

——————————————————————————————————————

SA won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat.

Pakistan

A Razzaq caught L Van Wyk b R Cameron 0

S Khan retired not out 36

S Tanvir retired not out 38

U Akmal not out 27

H Azam caught R Cameron b A Swanepoel 0

Y Shah run out 0

Extras: 9

Total: 3/110

South Africa

L Van Wyk retired not out 32

M Mosehle b 5

R Cameron retired not out 33

D du Preez c 5

L Meyer not out 0

A Swanepoel not out 5

Extras: 7

Total 2/87

——————————————————————————————————————

12:30 England vs. Bangladesh POOL B (Result: England DEFEAT Bangladesh by 4 wickets)

13:15 New Zealand vs. Scotland POOL A (Result: Scotland DEFEAT New Zealand by 5 wickets)

14:00 Australia vs. Ireland POOL B (Result: Australia DEFEAT Ireland by 28 runs)

15:00 HK/China/Woodworm All Stars vs. Rest of the World (T20)

The Woodworm All Stars DEFEAT The Rest of the World

Please REFRESH your browser to view the updated scores.

Some images from the Kowloon Cricket Club:

The South African side, again coached by Corrie Van Zyl consists of:

Dillon du Preez, Mangaliso Mosehle, Richard Cameron, Lenert Van Wyk, Lyall Meyer, Aubrey Swanepoel and Matthew Hulett.

The Woodworm All Stars were out early, taking in some of the sights and sounds of The Peak ahead of their coaching clinic for some local youngsters this afternoon.

The tournament drawcard-side consists of:

Shahid Afridi (Pakistan),

Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka),

Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa),

RP Singh (India),

Piyush Chawla (India),

Lou Vincent (New Zealand) and

Ryan Ten Doeschate (Netherlands).

The Woodworm All Stars on a walkabout around The Peak earlier today

Day 1 starts with an exhibition schools game at 8.30am. followed by the first round of Sixes.

The very-first T20 match to be played in Hong Kong takes place at 3pm.  The Woodworm All Stars will play a Karp Group Rest of the World team, combined from the other 11 participating teams in Hong Kong as a showcase match to launch the tournament.

Tickets for the Karp Group Hong Kong Cricket Sixes are now only available from the gate at Kowloon Cricket Club starting tomorrow at 8.30am.

Woodworm All Star Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) does some early Halloween shopping.

(Additional picture by Herschelle Gibbs via Twitter)

For the latest from the Karp Group Hong Kong Sixes, join us on Twitter by adding @BlitzBokke

The grounds at host-club Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC) was a hive of activity as workmen were busy assembling the spectator stands and other facilities.

The reason I was out at Cox’s Road was to attend an event to mark the announcement that tournament organisers were to give some 600 free tickets to organizations that support non-ethnic Chinese minority groups in Hong Kong.

The tickets will be distributed through a variety of social welfare and neighborhood institutions active in the South Asian community with a particular focus on those that work with at-risk youth.

The two Caritas associations participating in Saturday’s session are among several organisations to receive tickets for the Friday of the Karp Group Hong Kong Sixes.

Over 350 tickets have already been distributed to a variety of organizations and community support centres such as the Kowloon Mosque, with another 150 being provided after strong demand.

In addition, 100 tickets have been provided to the Home Affairs Bureau for distribution through its own channels to various ethnic Chinese community groups in Hong Kong.

Today’s clinic was run by members of the Hong Kong Cricket Association’s Men’s and Women’s Cricket Sixes team.

The pair will link up with Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya and Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi – two of the best batsmen in the world – in an impressive squad backed by equipment and kit manufacturer Woodworm.

South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs, Australian Shaun Tait and Holland’s Ryan ten Doeshcate are the other members of the team looking to become the first All Star side to win the showpiece.

The 22-year-old Chawla comes in as a replacement for all- rounder Abdul Razzaq who has opted to lead Pakistan at the October-28-30 tournament at Kowloon Cricket Club.

Vincent played 23 Tests and 102 one-day internationals for New Zealand. His knock of 172 against Zimbabwe in 2006 is the highest score by a New Zealand batsman in ODIs.

“The pair will both bring key ingredients to the side,” said Hong Kong Cricket Association president Shahzada Saleem.

Left-arm spinner Najeeb stepped down as captain soon after Hong Kong had successfully finished in the top four at the ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament in Dubai earlier this year.

But the lure of the Sixes, where he has been a star turn, has persuaded Najeeb to return and he will lead a strong local outfit who will be seeking to repeat their heroics of 2009 when they shocked the big guns to storm into the Cup final before bowing out to South Africa.

“We have a very strong side with a good mix of experienced hands as well as new faces. I think we will go very well this time,’ said Hong Kong national coach Charlie Burke.

Apart from Najeeb, the spin department will include veteran Munir Dar and Peter Wooden while Tanvir Afzaal and newcomer Haseeb Amjad will provide the medium-pace. Nizakat Khan, one of the outstanding players for Hong Kong in recent months and teenage debutant Babar Hayat will make up the rest of the team.

“Babar Hayat is just 18 and has only recently qualified to play for Hong Kong internationally. He is a big striker of the ball and I’m sure he will do very well as will Haseeb who is a fine all-rounder,” Burke said.

Hayat will also take over the wicket-keeping duties ruling out Hussain Butt from the equation.

A view of the SA/Hong Kong match from the commentators’ box at KCC (Video: Mike Jansen)

Hong Kong has frequently troubled all the big teams in this tournament and Burke will be hoping for more of the same as Najeeb and his men go in hunt of a big scalp or two.

“I believe we have the players who can upset any of the bigger sides on the day,” said captain Shahzada Saleem, president of the Hong Kong Cricket Association.

Hong Kong is grouped with last year’s finalists Pakistan, South Africa and India in the preliminary round of the 12-team tournament, which will be played over three days for the first time in the history of the competition.

Also for the first time, an international Twenty20 (T20) match will be played on the Friday, when the All Stars take on a combined world outfit comprising of players from each of the other countries.

Hong Kong Squad: Najeeb Amar (captain, pictured below), Tanvir Afzaal, Munir Dar, Nizakat Khan, Babar Hayat, Haseeb Amjad, Peter Wooden.

The New Zealand squad for the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes has been selected from the One Day International and T20 squads representing New Zealand on its tour of Zimbabwe starting 15 October 2011 in Harare.

The experience will stand the Black Caps in good stead in a challenging Pool at the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes and offers tournament organizers a wealth of options when selecting players to hit out against the Sixes All Stars in the first ever T20 match to be played at the Sixes on Friday afternoon, October 28.

Oram (pictured above), a powerful left-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler, will be at the helm of a team that also includes former test representatives and more-than useful all-rounders Nathan McCullum and James Franklin, who is currently playing in the IPL Champions League.

“We have put together a competitive squad and will go into the tournament with high hopes of winning,” said the six-foot six-inch Oram who plays for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.

New Zealand have never won the Sixes, but the mix of experience and youth is a blend that will give the Kiwis a potency as they seek to lift the US$50,000 winner’s purse at the 12-team event from October 28-30 at the Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC).

Apart from right-arm off spinner McCullum and left-arm fast bowler Franklin, the rest of the squad comprises Rob Nicol, (New Zealand Cricket’s domestic player of the year last season), Luke Woodcock, Kieran Noema-Barnett and Derek de Boorder.

“A number of players have international experience but we also have a couple of young guys who will be representing their country for the first time,” Oram said.

One to watch out for will be Noema-Barnett, a destructive batsman who has had a splendid domestic season this year, while much is expected also of wicket-keeper batsman De Boorder.

“We have a very good line up all-rounders and I’m confident we have the squad to win the tournament,” Oram added.

Oram is eagerly anticipating his debut at the Hong Kong Sixes, saying “I love the format as its quick and entertaining and I look forward to experiencing the culture and all that Hong Kong has to offer.”

The Black Caps will face an early challenge when they come up against top seeds, the All Stars, who boast explosive batsmen like Sanath Jayasuriya, Shahid Afridi and Herschelle Gibbs in their lineup. The rest of the opposition in pool A includes Sri Lanka and debutants Scotland.

The defending champions, trans-Tasman rivals Australia, head pool B which comprises England, Bangladesh and a powerful Ireland outfit who will be led by Kevin O’Brien, the player who holds the record for the fastest World Cup century, off just 50 balls. Pool C includes last year’s runners-up Pakistan, South Africa, India and hosts Hong Kong.

For the latest from the HK Sixes, follow us on Twitter by adding @BlitzBokke