MEDIA RELEASE

ENGLAND EARN REVENGE OVER PAKISTAN AT 2003 CATHAY PACIFIC/STANDARD CHARTERED HONG KONG CRICKET SIXES

The England players savour the spoils of victory at the 2003 Cathay Pacific / Standard Chartered Cricket Sixes © World Sport Group

HONG KONG, November 2: Toppling their traditional Hong Kong rivals, England claimed the US$260,000 Cathay Pacific/Standard Chartered Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes with a comfortable 21-run victory over Pakistan in the Cup final at the Kowloon Cricket Club today.

The English, who were tackling the defending champions in the final match for the third time in the last four Cathay Pacific/Standard Chartered Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes events, added the victory to triumphs in 1993 and 1994 - and earned some measure of revenge for their defeat at the hands of Pakistan in last year's showpiece game.

Another magnificent autumn day shone on the picturesque oval in the heart of Hong Kong's famed Kowloon peninsula and saw England race to 86/0 from their allotted five overs, thanks in large part to openers Robert Croft, the one-time frontline Test spinner, and Kabir Ali, each bludgeoning innings of 31 before retiring. Skipper Matthew Maynard added a six-ball 20 for England at the death, seeing his side virtually replicate the 81/1 they posted batting first in 2002.

However, the result would be different this year. After their own quickfire start, the Pakistanis - four times the winners in Hong Kong -saw Player of the Final Croft suffocate their challenge with a superb over of 2/4 in the middle of their innings, effectively ending their charge for a fourth successive victory and third in the last three years.

Maynard, a veteran of five Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes campaigns, was thrilled with the victory - and the chance to captain his country to the US$80,000 winners' cheque.

"The boys are really delighted with the win. After the loss in our first game (against South Africa) and the Kenya match, we were looking at being knocked out of the Cup competition, so this is a tremendous win," he said.

After that opening defeat, Kenya needed just 14 runs off the final over of Saturday's last game to relegate the English to the Plate phase of the competition. However, thanks to a Darren Maddy gem of an over, they survived and, indeed, prospered. A defeat of Sri Lanka in today's opening game sent them into the elite Cup side of the draw and on the path to the title.

Added Maynard: "I have always maintained that the secret to Sixes cricket is not the batting, but the bowling. Crofty bowled a magnificent over and really won the game for us with the combination of his batting and bowling."

Pakistan captain Moin Khan was magnanimous in defeat. "We didn't play well enough," conceded Khan, who was involved in a bizarre incident on his way to the crease when he failed to crossover with outgoing batsman Abdul Razzaq.

The Pakistanis suffered a four-run penalty as a result, although it did not affect the outcome of the match.

In addition to Pakistan's legions of fans that left with their heads down, their great rivals India also completed a disappointing weekend with a loss to South Africa in the Plate competition. The Africans, only relegated to the Plate on run-rate after finishing the pool stage tied with England and Sri Lanka, restricted the Indians to 57 all out. In response, they cruised past their opponents' total without the loss of any wickets.

In the other matches, surprise World Cup semi-finalists Kenya ended their winless drought, edging Hong Kong for third place in the Plate division.

That match ended a wretched tournament for the hosts, who were winless in 2003 after taking out the Plate honour in 2002.

In the Cup competition, New Zealand bounced back from their semi-final defeat to England to take third place over Sri Lanka. With Saman Jayanthe claiming the Player of the Tournament honour, there was still reason for the Lankans to smile.

MATCH SUMMARY - DAY 2

Game 11
England (104/1) defeated Sri Lanka (99/1) by 5 runs
R. Croft 35 ret S. Jayantha 33 ret
S. Jayantha 1/28 D. Brown 0/14

Game 12
Hong Kong (60/3) lost to Pakistan (61/1) by 5 wickets
M. Eames 32* A. Mahmood 24*
A. Razzaq 1/8 A. Haider 1/14

Points Table

NB. Sri Lanka and England progressed to Cup phase by superior run-rate.

Plate Semi-final 1
South Africa (89/5) defeated Hong Kong (52/1) by 37 runs
G. Dros 54* R. Eagleson 25*
R. Eagleson 3/9 G. Dros 1/10

Cup Semi-final 1
New Zealand (86/1) lost to England ((87/1) by 5 wickets
A. Adams 36 ret K. Ali 35 ret
R. Croft 1/14 M. Walker 1/20

Plate Semi-final 2
Kenya (73/3) lost to India (74/1) by 5 wickets
R. Shah 29 V. Kambli 34 ret
M. Kanitkar 1/15 R. Shah 1/6

Cup Semi-final 2
Pakistan (86/4) defeated Sri Lanka (65/4) by 21 runs
N. Latif 28 S. Jayantha 29
R. Palliyaguru 1/17 A. Razzaq 2/3

Plate Third Place Play-off
Kenya (63/5) defeated Hong Kong (61/3) by 2 runs
R. Shah 16 M. Jamshaid 34*
A. Najeeb 2/10 T. Odoyo 1/3

Cup Third Place Play-off
New Zealand (84/4) defeated Sri Lanka (55/1) by 29 runs
A. Barnes 39* S. Jayantha 35*
D. Liyanage 2/3 M. Horne 1/2

Plate Final
India (57) lost to South Africa (0/58) by 6 wickets
S. Bahutule 12 J. Ontong 32 ret
G. Dros 3/11 N. Chopra 0/12

Cup Final
England (0/86) defeated Pakistan (65/4) by 21 runs
R. Croft 31 ret I. Nazir 27
I. Nazir 0/9 R. Croft 2/4

FINAL RESULTS

Cup
Team US$
1 England 80,000
2 Pakistan 50,000
3 New Zealand 35,000
4 Sri Lanka 30,000
Plate
Team US$
1 South Africa 25,000
2 India 20,000
3 Kenya 10,000
4 Hong Kong 10,000

Provided by CCIL/Hong Kong Cricket Association. For further information, please contact Danny Lai at (852) 2504-8102.