Hong Kong Cricket Sixes

 

The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes is a tournament organized by the Cricket Hong Kong. The tournament is sanctioned by International Cricket Council and is generally held at the Kowloon Cricket Club. Matches are intended to be watched on television, with rules and a setting that encourages aggressive attack and high scores. The tournament is best suited for the all rounders, as all players except the wicket keeper need to bowl an over. All editions of the tournament were held at the Kowloon Cricket Club, with the exception of the 1996 and 1997 editions, which were held at Hong Kong Stadium.

History

Pakistan won the inaugural trophy in 1992. Wasim Akram was chosen as the man of the match. Teams from Pakistan, England and South Africa have won the tournament 5 times each. The Indian won the 2005 edition. In 2006, South Africa beat Pakistan, the five-time champions. Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 2007 after defeating an All-Stars team that included Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Shane Warne. In 2008, the All-Stars went to the tournament, with Brian Lara of the West Indies and Stephen Fleming of New Zealand as attacking members. They were joined by Sri Lanka, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and hosts Hong Kong. Eight teams competed in the 2009 tournament, which ran from October 31 to November 1, with South Africa beating Hong Kong in the final. The Hong Kong Cricket Association was awarded HK $ 3.5 million by the Hong Kong Government's Mega Event Fund (MEF) to host the event in 2011, with additional funding provided by the KARP Group. The rules of tournament have been tweaked to meet the objectives of the Mega Events Fund, which promotes Hong Kong as Asia's event capital. The competition begins on Friday of the weekend and lasts two to three days. The number of competing teams was increased from 8 to 12 teams with the addition of 4 more teams, which comprised of a 3 international teams and 1 team of invitational squad of international players. Because of certain issues related to the time constraints HKCA did not make another MEF application in 2012 , and decided to rely on a smaller grant of government's ‘M’ Mark scheme. This resulted in a abated tournament played over two days on 27–28 October with just eight teams. All-Stars side was not a part of that edition of tournament. After 2012 there was a time gap before the tournament returned in 2017. This was mainly due to lack of funds. In 2013, the Hong Kong Cricket Association submitted  applications for MEF contributions. At first they had submitted for HK$10 million, but later they revised it toHK$5 million. But all these applications were turned down and the tournament was cancelled due to lack of funds. The organizers were left with only HK$1 million from the M-Mark scheme to compile the tournament. They couldn’t get enough sponsorships from private side too. After a delay of 5 years the tournament was held again in 2017. In that 19th edition, South Africa defeated Pakistan in the finals. Pakistan batting first made 123/6 in 4.5 overs. In reply , South Africa made 124/4 in five overs. South Africa won by 2 wickets.

Match rules

The Laws of Cricket apply, except:

1. Each match is played between two teams, comprising of six players. Each match consists of a maximum of five overs of 6 balls each, bowled by each side. The final match has eight-ball overs.

2. Every member of the fielding side, except the wicket keeper bowls one over each.

3. Wides and no-balls costs two runs.

4. If five wickets fall before the completion of 5 overs, the last remaining batsman bats alone with the fifth batsman, who was out acting as a runner. He always takes the strike. The innings is complete when the sixth wicket falls or the quota of 5 overs are completed.

5. When the batsman reaches 31 runs, they retire. A batsman who previously retired on reaching 31 runs, can return to the crease once the other lower order batsmen has been out or retired.

6. The winning team obtains 2 points for each.

7. There wont be a free hit after the no ball.

India Vs England, 2021– Test series Review

 

The visiting English team was undone by the Indian spinners in the Indian conditions. There were a lot of discussions regarding the spin friendly conditions in these pitches. But that is what we call the favorable home conditions. When the Indians tour New Zealand, South Africa and England they have to face the hostile pace friendly conditions. Likewise when these nations tour the Asian nations they should be prepared to face the spin friendly conditions here. England had defeated Sri Lanka in the recently conclude test series there and had high expectations.  Since 1980, England has been the only team to win two test series in India, the latest being in 2012. England started off well in Chennai.  Batting first they posted a mammoth total of 578, with Joe Root scoring a fine double hundred. The Indian first innings ended up at 337. England was all out for 178 in their second innings. But India couldn’t manage to put up a fight and was folded out for 192 runs. England had an imposing victory of 227 runs. But in the second match in Chennai England failed miserably and never showed up to the contest. Winning the toss, India made 329 in their first innings, with Rohit Sharma scoring a breezy 161. In reply English batsmen could only muster 134 runs in their first innings. Indian off spinner Ravichandra Ashwin picked up 5 English wickets in the first innings. India in their second innings was at some stage 106/6, before Ashwin once again contributed to the Indian cause, this time with the bat. Ashwin scored 106 and India reached 286/10. English batsmen once again fell to the spin trap of India and failed to put up a fight. They were bowled out for 164 runs and India won by a huge margin of 317 runs.

      Axar Patel

After the two tests in Chennai, the part moved to Ahmadabad. The third test was the pink ball day night test. The pitch once again looked a turner. India went to the match with three spinners in their ranks. But England picked only one specialist spinner in the form of Jack Leach. England won the toss, but couldn’t utilize the advantage once again and were bowled out for a paltry 112 . English batsmen found it hard to handle the spin of Axar Patel and the spinner picked up 6 wickets in the first Innings. India was bowled out for 145 in their first inning with Joe Root picking up 5 wickets. Jack Leach picked up 4. So the match was somewhat evenly poised and England had a chance, since India had to bat in the fourth innings in the crumbling pitch. But once again the English batsmen were undone by Axar Patel and Ashwin . Their second innings ended in 81 runs. India chased down the 49 runs without losing a wicket and grabbed a 10 wicket victory. The 4^th and final test was also in the same ground. Now the English had their confidence low and the spin threat was always looming in their minds. India had to avoid defeat to ensure their place in World Test Championship finale. Once again England won the toss and elected to bat. England batsmen managed 205 in the first innings. Axar Patel picked up 4 , Ashwin 3 and Siraj 2 wickets respectively. In reply India made 365 in the first innings with the help of an attacking century from Rishabh Pant. Second Innings of England came to a halt at 135 with once again Ashwin and Axar picking up 5 wickets each. So the series ended with India winning 3-1 and making a entry to the World Test Championship Final.

Joe Root

The rotation policy of English team played a part in their poor performance in the recently concluded test series. They never played their best team, resting some of their main players. James Anderson, Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad make a serious threat to the opposition. But they never played together continuously in the series. Likewise Moeen Ali could have been beneficial to the English cause in third and fourth test matches. He could have contributed with bat and ball alike. Jose Butler is just another attaching batsman who could have taken the attack to the opposition, which Rishabh Pant had done for India. English batsmen were not prepared to play the spin conditions of India. They had taken India lightly after their victory in Sri Lanka. But later they realized the difference in quality.

                                                                     Rishabh Pant

Six sixes in an over

1. Sir Garfield Sobers

On August 31, 1968, the West Indian all-rounder became the first player to accomplish the feat. Nottinghamshire was facing Glamorgan, and Sir Garfield Sobers was captaining the team. Malcolm Nash was taken to the cleaners by the West Indian great. Sobers hit five consecutive clean hits for six runs, but was caught on the boundary on the sixth. But unfortunately for the fielding team, the fielder Roger Davis made a mess of it and the ball crossed the boundary ropes. And thus for the first time in history a batsmen smashed six sixes in an over.

 

Sir Garfield Sobers

      2. Ravi Shastri

The former Indian all-rounder and the current coach of Indian team is a surprising addition in the list. Shastri was not known for his big hits. The all-rounder achieved the feat on 19^th January,1985. He smashed the left arm spinner Tilak Raj of Baroda for 6 sixes in an over while playing for Bombay in the Ranji trophy.

Ravi Shastri

     3. Herschelle Gibbs

The swashbuckling South African Hershelle Gibbs was the first batsman to achieve the feat in world cup match and in an international ODI game. The Netherlands bowler Daan van Bunge was at the receiving end. Gibbs achieved the feat during the World cup in 2007 held in West Indies.

 

Herschelle Gibbs

      4. Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh played an important role in helping India win the first ever T20 World Cup in 2007 held in South Africa. The Indian south paw entered into a heated argument with Andrew Flintoff during 18 th over. In reply Yuvi smashed the young Stuart Broad all over the park for six sixes in the 19 th over.

Yuvraj Singh

     5. Ross Whiteley 

In July 2017, Ross Whiteley joined the select club with six consecutive maximums. He was born in England and plays for Worcestershire county team. In a T20 match at Headingley while playing for Worcestershire Rapids, he smashed Yorkshire Vikings spinner Karl Carver's for six maximums. Worcestershire  Rapids lost, despite the Sheffield-born batsman's efforts, with David Willey,  smashing a match-winning 118 off 55 deliveries.

 

Ross Whiteley

     6. Hazratullah Zazai

The development of cricket in Afghanistan during the recent times has been quite enviable. Many quality cricketers have emerged from the ranks and they have proved to be a match for some of the best quality teams. Hazratullah Zazai has been one such player. During the Afghanistan Premier League (T20), Hazratullah Zazai bashed his way through Abdullah Mazari's deliveries joining the list of cricketers who have smashed 6 sixes in an over.

Hazratullah Zazai

      7. Leo Carter

In January 2020, the New Zealand batsman created headlines by hitting six sixes in a single over during his team's T20 match against the Northern Knights. Carter, who competed in New Zealand's Super Smash competition, hit six consecutive sixes on his way to 70 not out in just 29 deliveries, leading Canterbury Kings to a seven-wicket win with seven deliveries left.

Leo Carter

 8. Kieron Pollard

The West Indian captain is the third batsmen to achieve the rare feat of 6 sixes in an over in International cricket. Pollard blasted off the sixes off Srilankan spinner Akila Dananjaya, who had taken a hatrick in his previous over. Pollard has been a regular face in different T20 franchises all over the world. In IPL he plays for Mumbai Indians.

  Kieron Pollard