Blistering half centuries by Abdul Razzaq and Sohail Tanvir guided Pakistan to a 35-run victory over England to be crowned champions at the Karp Group Hong Kong Sixes on Sunday.

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.

The Currie Cup Final at Delaneys Irish Bar last night, coupled with a WanChai brimming with Halloween revelers meant that Day 3 started rather late for me.

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…

Day 2 of the Karp Group Hong Kong Sixes here at the Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC) has been blessed with another morning of glorious sunshine.

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)

The fixtures for Day 2 of the Karp Group Hong Kong Sixes are as follows (time is local Hong Kong):

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 2011 Karp Group Hong Kong Sixes kicked off early today at the Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC) in Kowloon’s Jordan district.

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:

Indian all-rounder Piyush Chawla and New Zealand’s Lou Vincent complete the Woodworm All Stars lineup for next week’s Karp Group Hong Kong Cricket Sixes.

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.

Fiery all-rounder Jacob Oram will lead New Zealand at the Karp Group Hong Kong Cricket Sixes 2011 and believes he has the ammunition to win the tournament for the first time for his country.

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

USA captain Steve Massiah has been reprimanded and warned of his future conduct for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct following his country’s match against Denmark in Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 3 (WCL Div. 3) on Saturday 29 January 2011.

Massiah pleaded guilty to the charge which was laid down by the on field umpires, Kevin Bishop and Vinay Kumar.

As such, after a disciplinary hearing which was held to establish the seriousness of the offence under the provisions of the code, ICC Match Referee Graeme La Brooy imposed the sanction.

Through his admission, Massiah was found to have breached Article 2 Section 2.1.3 of the ICC Code, which relates to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during an international match”.

Explaining his decision, Mr La Brooy said, “I hope Mr Massiah has learned that there is no place for this type of behaviour in the game and that the spirit of the game should be maintained at all times. I also trust that in future, he will be more courteous and pay others the respect they deserve.”

All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of a reprimand and a warning and, as with other breaches at this level, the ICC Match Referee’s decision is final and binding.

The offending USA captain Steve Messiah (Pic: Daniela Zaharia/ESPNCricinfo)

Meanwhile, in the match between hosts Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea (PNG) at the Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC), HowzitHongKong.com also noticed some in-your-face taunting by the visitors whenever they dismissed a Hong Kong batsman.

The very vocal team was at one stage also reprimanded by the match-official who obviously didn’t feel the need to officially sanction the team.

We felt it really unbecoming of a side who had, at that stage of the tournament, already qualified for promotion to Division 2 of the Pepsi World Cricket Cricket League.

Some more pictures from the recently completed WCL Division 3 in Hong Kong:

Hong Kong beat Papua New Guinea (PNG) by four wickets in the final of Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 3 (WCL Div.3) at the Kowloon Cricket Club in Hong Kong on Saturday.

Having been set a target by PNG of 203, Hong Kong claimed victory after a superb performance by teenager Mark Chapman which set the side up for victory. By virtue of reaching the final, both Hong Kong and PNG joined Namibia, Bermuda, Uganda and hosts United Arab Emirates in Pepsi ICC WCL Div. 2 to be hosted in Dubai from 8 to 15 April.

After the group stage of the event PNG had been top of the table despite one loss to Hong Kong on Friday in the round-robin section of the tournament. Today, Rarua Dikana’s men were ready to avenge the Hong Kong side that had inflicted the only defeat on the team during the course of the tournament’s group stages, but Hong Kong had other plans in mind.

Hong Kong captain Najeeb Amar had a fantastic day with the ball claiming 3-32 including in his haul the key PNG opener Tony Ura for 51 and top order batsman Chris Amini for 60.

Amini had few team-mates to build on the total with, not helped by the four batsmen below him totalling just 12 runs, but the arrival of Hitolo Areni helped the team to respectable 202-8 at the close of the Papua New Guineans’ innings.

After the break, the locals made steady work of knocking of the runs with the key player of the innings being middle-order batsman Chapman whose knock of 70 not out was key to the hosts victory.

The 16-year-old saw many of his team-mates come and go with Hussain Butt and Waqas Barqat the only two to pass 20 runs each. PNG captain Dikana was the pick of the side’s bowlers, taking match figures of 3-40.

HK Captain Najeeb Amar with ICC President Haroon Lorgat (Pic: ICC/CricketEurope)

A delighted Hong Kong captain Najeeb Amar said of the side’s win in front of its home crowd, “Today I feel like I’m flying, like I am sat on the moon I am so happy that we’ve won the tournament. I was delighted to score the winning the runs with Mark Chapman in front of our home crowd.

“Credit must not just go to the team but also our coach, Charlie Burke, he’s unbelievable, he made my job easier, he gave us a simple task, don’t panic and the results will come, which they did this week.

“Our team is full of surprises and talented guys, especially Mark Chapman among many others, they can prove themselves against any team and hopefully when we get to Dubai we can do the same. The teams in Division 2 will be a tough task, but the way we perform and play and we can make it any level and we’re confident.”

Man of the match Chapman said, “It’s an amazing feeling to win in front of my family and home crowd and then take home the man of the match medal too. I worked hard today to grind out the runs since I’ve not had a great run this tournament. I don’t know much about Dubai and the sides we’ll face, but I’m sure we’ll be ready.”

Man-of-the-Match 16-year old Mark Chapman at KCC today (Pic: Mike Jansen)

Elsewhere, Oman defeat Italy by eight wickets in the third-fourth play-off at Hong Kong Cricket Club while Denmark beat USA by 84 runs to take fifth place. Oman and Italy stay in Division 3 while USA and Denmark were relegated to Division 4.

Kowloon Cricket Club hosted Hong Kong vs. PNG today (Pic: Mike Jansen)

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has secured itself promotion to Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL Div. 2) to be held in April in Dubai after Rarua Dikana’s men beat Denmark in Hong Kong today to take its fourth victory in a row of Pepsi ICC WCL Div. 3.

Usman Shuja led USA to victory today, helping to secure the Americans a win over Oman in a tightly fought contest at Hong Kong Cricket Club, while hosts Hong Kong battled to beat Italy by one wicket.

By PNG securing promotion today, it means Friday’s games will be crucial for the five other teams in the tournament with regards to the second available promotion spot, the two relegation places and the two berths that will see two sides remain in WCL Div. 3

PNG continued its domination of this event today seeing off with ease a challenge from Denmark at Kowloon Cricket Club. The Danes batting line-up failed once again today with the top seven batsmen in the side all departing after being caught in the field by the in-form Papua New Guineans.

Aftab Ahmed was the top scorer for the Danish side with his 39 not out to help his side to 112, but his efforts were in vain as Loa Nou, Hitolo Areni, Chris Amini and Chris Kent claimed two wickets each leaving one each for their captain Rarua Dikana and team-mate Mahuru Dai.

Having given the Danish a master class in fielding, it was then up to PNG’s batsmen to showcase their abilities to the European side. Unfortunately for Asad Vala it wasn’t his day to give a batting exhibition, with the 23-year-old departing for a duck, but he made way for Chris Amini who alongside Tony Ura knocked off the required runs in just 22.3 overs.

Today’s victory has secured the side a place in Saturday’s final no matter what the results are on Friday when all the teams square up for the final round-robin section of the tournament.

PNG head coach Andy Bichel was pleased with the side’s strong performance and sees the promotion to WCL Div. 2 a culmination of hard work that has paid off. “I am immensely proud of the boys and feel that qualifying for Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 2 achieves a goal we set ourselves18 months ago.

“The final on Saturday is now a short term goal and taking home the title is an important part of finishing this tournament,” said Bichel.

Man of the match Chris Amini said, “It is nice to finally contribute at this level and have a really strong game. I’ve not won an ICC man of the match award since Pepsi ICC WCL Div. 3 in 2007 in Darwin and I feel proud to again achieve this honour.

“I feel at this stage as a team we are approaching our best and I know we still have more to achieve.”

Aftab Ahmed takes a tumble (Pic: ICC)

In the highest scoring fixture of the day, Hong Kong battled against Italy in a thrilling match that saw the hosts claim victory by one wicket with just two balls remaining.

Alessandro Bonora won the toss at Mission Road and elected to bat first and despite his opening batsmen failing to fire, he put on a hard-fought 77 while Peter Petricola provided his first century of the tournament to help the Italians to a total of 235 on a track that saw little action for the bowlers.

When Hong Kong took to the field the top order continued its poor run of form and none of the side made a solid partnership until the arrival of the middle order duo Nizakat Khan and Waqas Barkat and then later on captain Najeeb Amar.

The trio helped the side to rise up from being 68-5 to a point where victory was in the side’s grasp but with one wicket remaining and only one over to go, the match looked sure to be in the grasp of the Italians. However, tail-end batsman Aizaz Khan had other ideas, smashing his way to 24 in just eight balls, including three sixes, to help steer the side to victory with just two balls remaining.

Hong Kong captain Amar was naturally thrilled with the side’s comeback but is keen to remain focussed on Friday’s big fixture against table-toppers PNG.

“I’m obviously relieved we won today after a tightly fought game where the track wasn’t really giving anything to our bowlers but when it came to us making the runs the task fell to the bottom order. They deserve credit for how they played, all of them taking responsibility to help us to victory.

“Friday we face PNG who have been having a great tournament here but I’m not worried, we’ve a psychological advantage over them. We beat them in the warm-ups with a Hong Kong side that wasn’t full strength so I believe we’ve the upper hand going into Friday’s game, not them,” said Amar.

Tomorrow is a rest day with play resuming on Friday.

Points Table (Day Four)