Records tumble as Mariko Hill and skipper Kary Chan lead from the front as Hong Kong seals a massive victory.
The ongoing edition of the ACC Women’s Premier Cup commenced on 10th February 2024 and will conclude on 18th February 2024. Earlier in the day, we witnessed a super rare moment in the 14th match of the season between China and Japan. The 21-year-old left-arm pacer from Japan Ahilya Chandel created history as she became the first player from the country and overall the fourth player to bag a double hat-trick (four wickets in four balls) against China.
Hong Kong skipper Kary Chan led from the front with the bat as well as with the ball alongside Mariko Hill and the duo played a match-winning innings and joined an elite list of Hong Kong players to achieve a remarkable feat. Hong Kong skipper Kary Chan won the toss and opted to bat first against Maldives. The openers justified the skipper’s decision to bat first as they smashed the Maldives bowlers all around the park with a scoring rate of almost 12 runs an over before Nabaa Naseem cleaned up skipper Kary Chan to provide the much-needed breakthrough for Maldives. She departed for a well-made half-century (87 off 47 balls) scoring at a humongous strike rate of 185.10.
Shanzeen Shahzad joined Mariko Hill at the crease and the duo took Hong Kong over the 220-run mark with a 46-run partnership. They eventually ended up with a total of 222/1 in their quota of overs. It is their highest-ever total in a women’s T20I format against Maldives. Mariko Hill smashed her maiden century and stayed unbeaten on 100 runs at an impressive strike rate of 153.84 alongside skipper Kary Chan (87 off 47 balls), were the top performers with the bat for Hong Kong. Nabaa Naseem was the only wicket-taker (1/40) for Maldives.
Chasing a humongous target of 223, Maldives got off to a poor start losing both their openers for a golden duck and they found themselves struggling at 5-2 in the 2nd over of the run chase. Fathimath Malha joined Latsha Haleemath at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 16-run partnership for the 3rd wicket before skipper Kary Chan picked up the wicket of Fathimath Malha to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Hong Kong.
Maldives suffered a horrible collapse triggered by Maryam Bibi as they lost their last seven wickets for just 29 runs and as a result, they were eventually bundled out for 50 with 26 balls to spare. Latsha Haleemath (17 off 15 balls) was the top performer with the bat for Maldives. Skipper Kary Chan (2.4-1-5-4) and Maryam Bibi (3-1-4-3) were the top performers with the ball for Hong Kong.
Skipper Kary Chan was awarded the Player of the Match for her exceptional match-winning performances (87 off 47 balls) with the bat and returning with match figures (2.4-1-5-4) with the ball. Hong Kong’s opening duo Mariko Hill (100 off 65 balls) and Kary Chan (87 off 47 balls) claimed the top two spots for the highest individual score by a Hong Kong woman. Natasha Miles (86* off 70 balls) Vs Japan, in 2022, Mariko Hill (76 off 50 balls) Vs UAE, in 2023, and Kary Chan (70 off 39 balls) Vs Mongolia, in 2023 were the previous best.