The Hong Kong Super Sixes this year was no different to other years of the tournament with excitement, fun and, above all, great cricket being visible on the 6th and 7th of November at the Kowloon Cricket Club.
The participating teams were all studded with players who were cut out for the shortest version of cricket the world knows. Australia had Warner the pugnacious left hander whilst the Indians were led by the evergreen Kumble who still looked very fit and raring to go. Pakistan on the other hand had Shoaib Malik, Imran Nazir and the tall and bouncy Shabbir Ahamed.
The Kiwi team comprised of some emerging names and included Darrel Tuffey and skipper Scot Styris. South Africa and England were made up largely of first class cricketers whilst Hong Kong as usual had their old faithful. The Sri Lankans, the eighth team in my opinion had the ideal combination of players who are simply masters at this art and were led by the dashing Jeewantha Kulatunga this year.
The tournament itself was very well organized and the scale the event has grown into is just enormous. The way cricket has taken root in Hong Kong and of course within the borders of its big brother China, is exceptional. The exhibition match between China and the Hong Kong Academy confirmed this fact as well as the enormous talent the Chinese posses, as their fast bowling was aggressive and their batting exuded technical efficiency, with the stroke play most of the time being almost copybook. It spoke of the quality coaching standards that prevail there and the desire of the young Chinese to excel at the game.
If the said exhibition game was an important moment of the two day affair, to me the game of the tournament was between Australia and Sri Lanka in the Semi Final.
The Aussie’s awesome batting muscle was on display from the very first over with Dilruwan Perera, the off spinner who had bowled tight overs up to then, being taken to task, with almost every other bowler suffering the same fate. In defense of the bowlers let’s not forget that, whilst the setting at the Kowloon Cricket Club grounds is one of the most picturesque it is also extremely small in size. Hence it is more or less weighted heavily in favour of the batsmen though wild hitting has very little chance of succeeding.
The one hundred and ten runs Australia got was never going to be easily over hauled and the Sri Lankan chances were dealt one of the hardest blows when skipper Jeewantha Kulatunga, who had played handsomely until that point was bowled behind his legs off the very first ball. Chinthaka Jayasinghe and Lokuhettige, two players perfectly suited for not just six a side cricket but for T 20 too, also left very quickly and it was then that one of Sri Lanka’s most underrated cricketers, Indika De Saram rose to the occasion.
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| David Warner led Aussie onslaught |
In the company of Kaushalya Weeraratne, De Saram counter attacked and had to retire paving the way for some blistering hitting by the last man Dilruwan Perera. The sum total of the three batsmen realized one hundred and nine runs with Weeraratne hitting the last ball for six when eight was needed.
The Sri Lankans, possibly the best balanced and the most attractive batting side of the tournament should consider themselves hard done by and were just piped at the post. I mean unlucky because one could argue that a delivery down the leg side was not given a wide in the last over, which could, in the final analysis, have tilted the game in favour of the Lankans.
If the semi-final was extremely exciting the final, from a cricketing perspective, was even more thrilling, though I must admit that many eyebrows were raised in the ultimate outcome. It was a heroic, stupendous and miraculous performance by Australia.
The Aussies will never forget the way young Carters and skipper Warner scaled the cricketing Everest by scoring forty six runs in the last over with one ball to spare. However there were many questions asked by quite a few people present as to how it could all happen.
How could Pakistan lose a game that was in their bag after the brilliant counter attack by young opener Ahmad Shehzad? It was the most obvious of all questions that needed a credible answer! In the first place the game despite its glorious uncertainties was almost a forgone conclusion when the Pakistanis made 132 in their allotted five eight ball overs. I believe it was even tougher to imagine Australia winning when the target was forty six in the last over. True it was technically possible! Just seven sixes and one four! But then it is a lot easier said than actually done and the world of cricket hadn’t seen such a breathtaking effort up to then.
All Imran Nazir the bowler entrusted to bowl the last over had to do was run in and bowl simply straight and hope that he will get away with the odd single ball. His attempt to swing the ball and bowl bouncers was extremely surprising and it didn’t appear that he looked to contain the batsmen. Rather he was looking to be aggressive and to dismiss batsmen which was not the order of the day as far as Pakistan’s chances of winning the title.
And when Warner saw the last ball fired way down the leg side which went for four wides his punching of the air with a few choice words suggested the great relief the Aussies had got out of this victory at a time during which they are weathering a cricketing storm. I must admit that I am not in anyway suggesting any foul play in the final conclusion but the recent scandals involving the game and unfortunately some of the Pakistani cricketers make one look at every passing situation in the same light and it was not surprising that similar sentiments and connotations were attached to the final result of the tournament!
Besides all that the tournament itself is one of the most sought after events in Hong Kong and the interest level of the native people was most encouraging considering the fact that cricket was a game played by the British expatriates first and then followed by Pakistanis, Indians and Sri Lankans.
The manner the locals have flocked to play cricket and support the game will cause a positive rub off in mainland China too and it will surely take the game to great heights in that country. Over all one gets a hugely satisfying feeling to be part of such a wonderful event either as an administrator, player or even a media man. Hence my elation being part of it should be understandable.
Roshan Abeysinghe is a leading cricket promoter and an international cricket commentator |
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