ENGLAND SURVIVE TENSE MOMENTS TO REACH SEMI-FINALS AT CATHAY PACIFIC/STANDARD CHARTERED HONG KONG CRICKET SIXES
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| Reetinder Sodhi, Sanjay Bangar and Robin Robin Singh are delighted as they beat Pakistan to advance to the Cup round of the 2005 Cathay Pacific / Standard Chartered Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes © CCIL |
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Hong Kong, October 22: England produced a gutsy performance just when they needed it most to scramble through to the Cup semi-finals at the Cathay Pacific/Standard Chartered Hong Kong Cricket Sixes.
After beating Hong Kong and suffering a shock defeat to Sri Lanka, the defending champions thrashed their Ashes rivals Australia by six wickets at the Kowloon Cricket Club to ensure at least a top-two place in Pool 1 and remain on course for a hat-trick of titles.
Australia had earlier scored a thrilling one-run victory over the Sri Lankans following a 30-run triumph against hosts Hong Kong. But Australia’s hopes of reaching the Cup semi-finals depends on the outcome of Sri Lanka’s final group match on Sunday against Hong Kong.
In Pool 2, India defeated arch-rivals and four-time winners Pakistan in the final match of the day to join 1996 champions West Indies in the last four. Pakistan will compete in the Plate competition.
The Caribbean kings first defeated India by three wickets before a dominant six-wicket decision over Pakistan. They will be hoping to emerge top of the group when they meet South Africa in their final preliminary match on Sunday.
South Africa’s hopes disappeared after losses to both Pakistan and India.
England captain Robert Croft, whose team thrashed Hong Kong by 41 runs in their opening match, said his players knew they needed a big effort against the Australians to finish above their opponents in the run-rate stakes.
And they did just that, reaching Australia’s total of 58 for four in only three overs.
“We let ourselves down against Sri Lanka,” said Croft. “We were aware of how many runs we had to get and how many overs we had to get them in and we did the job.
“All these boys can turn it on. I’m not surprised at how quickly we got the runs. Against Sri Lanka, we were a bit rusty and sometimes you need something like that to give you a jolt and we came back by playing very well against Australia.
“We are through to the semi-finals and we’ll have a quiet night tonight and come back tomorrow and be ready to play.”
West Indies captain Sylvester Joseph said the team were still feeling their way around Sixes cricket. “We are happy to get to the Cup competition because we haven’t really played this kind of cricket and are still learning.
“After travelling so far to get here, we are delighted with what we’ve done,” said Joseph, who retired on 34 against India and scored 17 against Pakistan.
India and Pakistan went into their game needing nothing short of victory. Pakistan scored 75 for one wicket with Mohammad Hafeez retiring at 33. India, led by Sanjay Bangar’s 31 and Reetinder Sodhi’s 32, reached the target with three balls to spare.
“It’s important to perform when you need to put a score on the board and that’s what we were able to do,” said Indian captain Robin Singh.
“It’s always a big match when we play Pakistan and it was a pretty big target to get because not many teams have scored above 70. Now, we are looking to win the finals.”
Sri Lanka have looked one of the better sides in the tournament but still have much work to do to ensure a place in the Cup.
They lost a thriller to a young and talented Australian side in their opening Pool 1 match after Tilina Kandamby smashed 34 runs in the first over. But his teammates couldn’t maintain that frantic pace and Sri Lanka lost by one run, chasing 70 for five.
Sri Lanka redeemed themselves with a solid performance against defending champions England, who were beaten by 15 runs.
They now need a big win over Hong Kong in their final pool match on Sunday morning if they are to eclipse Australia and reach the Cup event.
Captain Saman Jayantha said: “We knew we had to win to stay in the competition and we are delighted with our performance.
“We had a very bad defeat to Australia in a game in which we batted and bowled well. Now, we have to make sure we score many runs against Hong Kong. We have a good batting line-up and we are confident we can do it.”
Provided by the Hong Kong Cricket Association. For further information, please contact Dave Poon or Danny Lai at (852) 2504-8101.
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