Record T20 international total for Hong Kong as they beat Japan in East Asia Cup final
- Hong Kong team clinch victory in triangular T20 tournament against Japan and China, beating the Japanese comfortably in Saturday’s final on home soil
- Captain Nizakat Khan equals his career-best score of 81 as Hong Kong complete their tournament unbeaten
Hong Kong have won cricket’s East Asia Cup by beating Japan on home soil in Saturday’s final.
The hosts posted their highest-ever T20 international total, hammering 219 for 7, with skipper Nizakat Khan equalling his career-best score of 81 from 48 deliveries, smashing four sixes in his match-winning knock.
Nasrulla Rana put the finishing touches on the record-setting innings with four consecutive maximums off the last four balls, three of which sailed over the straight boundary.
Hong Kong went on to prevail by 35 runs after Japan reached 184 for eight at the end of their 20 overs at Kowloon’s Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground.
In their chase, Japan lost their openers within the first four overs. Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming chipped Ehsan Khan to Anshuman Rath at mid off before Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake perished to a stunning one-handed catch by Babar Hayat at long on to give Yasim Murtaza his first wicket.
Both Ehsan and Murtaza would take two more wickets, and despite some useful cameos down the order, Japan were never really in the chase. Declan Suzuki-McComb top-scored with 37, but like the rest of the Japanese batting line-up, he could not convert it into a big score.
“The first 10 overs [with the ball] were really good, but the last 10 is what we need to work on,” Nizakat, who won the player-of-the-match award, said.
“But we have a young squad and we’re learning.”
Earlier in the day, after winning the toss and electing to bowl, Japan were made to toil from the very start. Martin Coetzee scored three fours in the first over, including two textbook straight drives. Trying to repeat the dose, he was bowled by a fired-up Reo Sakurano-Thomas.
Drawing inspiration from Coetzee, Rath drove Suzuki-McComb down the ground for four before Nizakat flayed Sakurano-Thomas over point for his first boundary.
Sabaorish Ravichandran gave Japan some hope by having Rath caught behind off a reverse sweep before getting Hayat stumped off the next ball for a golden duck.
Nizakat, however, continued on his merry way, dancing down the track for a pair of maximums in the closing stages of the innings. He was well supported by Aizaz Khan, who was similarly severe down the ground, hitting three sixes and a four in his knock of 34.
Murtaza blazed three maximums in his six-ball 20 before Rana’s blitz in Ryan Drake’s final over guided the home side to an unassailable total.
“It was a good batting wicket,” Nizakat said. “We all batted really well on this wicket and were positive from ball one.”
Hong Kong completed their tournament unbeaten, with China in third place. Their next assignment is a four-nation T20 international series scheduled for March, which will involve Nepal and two other teams yet to be announced.
