On a hot and humid day at the Shanghai Rugby Football Club, a spirited performance from the Shanghai Cricket Club led them to a comfortable 4 wicket victory over Kowloon CC.
Kowloon captain Nigel Shroff won the toss and after some deliberation decided to bat first.
The Shanghai opening bowlers Sanjay Anugula (8-2-29-2) and Razaq Mahmood (8-4-26-1), applied early pressure to the Kowloon top order. Ravi Sujanani (1), Ravi Lulla (15), and Dylan Dearing (12) failed to make an impression on the scorecard, but first Roy Lamsam (15) and then, Farooq Saeed (30) provided the captain, Shroff (59), with support. Shroff led from the front with a fighting half century that pulled his team from 41/3 in the 10th over to 167/5 in the 35th over.
Ryan Campbell (17) provided an entertaining cameo with two consecutive 6s in the later overs. The Shanghai captain, Waqar Khattak (7-0-43-2), was expensive but picked up two wickets, and so did Vinay Kumar (6-1-23-2), whose left arm spin provided some control during the end of the Kowloon innings.
Aditya Kanthan (8-1-37-2), bowling off a long run, and Lamsam (8-1-36-2), began the bowling for Kowloon, and soon removed Phil Childs (3) and Jacques Erasmus (1). Sujanani (6-0-39-1) soon after picked up the wicket of Ben Lyons (3) fishing outside off stump, and the Shanghai score was 45/3 in the 10th over.
However, Jonti Leibowitz (50) and Paul Malpass (55) combined for a 67 run partnership to provide the platform for the Shanghai win. After Saeed (2-0-13-1) picked up the wicket of Leibowitz, Sajid Anwar (33 not out) continued to score runs freely, and the Shanghai batsmen comfortably cruised to a 4 wicket win.
This was the first match between Shanghai and Kowloon in the modern era of the club, and was played competitively with good sportsmanship. Plans are already being made for the return match in Hong Kong next year, so lets hope this is the beginning of an annual fixture between the two clubs. The win also continues a good year for Shanghai, that earlier this season reclaimed the China Cup from Beijing.