MONG KOK, Hong Kong, CMC – Opener Dwayne Smith stroked an up tempo half-century while Marlon Samuels produced a solid all-round performance, as Kowloon Cantons won the Hong Kong T20 Blitz by thrashing City Kaitak by 25 runs in the final here yesterday.
Opting to bat first at Mission Road Ground, Cantons piled up an overwhelming 222 for five off their 20 overs with captain Babar Hayat top-scoring with 76 off 40 balls and Smith weighing in with 68 off 43.
Samuels kept the sustained the tempo of the innings with 32 off 21 deliveries.
Hayat, a prolific ODI batsman for Hong Kong, slammed nine fours and four sixes as he posted 149 for the first wicket with former Barbados and West Indies right-hander Smith who belted four fours and five sixes.
When the pair were dismissed within 12 balls of each other, Samuels stepped up to blast two fours and two sixes as he put on a further 52 for the third wicket with Ashar Zaidi who ended on 24 not out.
Barbados-born England all-rounder Chris Jordan finished with one for 44 from an expensive four-over spell while Trinidad and Tobago all-rounder Rayad Emrit went wicket-less from his four overs.
In reply, City Kaitak made a good fist of it but the target proved out of their reach, as they were bowled out for 197 with two balls remaining in the innings.
Opener Kyle Coetzer led with an astonishing 63 form 36 deliveries, including a four and seven sixes, while Trinidad and West Indies left-hander Nicholas Pooran produced a cameo 28 from 15 balls with two fours and two sixes.
Both Jordan (7) and Emrit (4) failed to make an impression with the bat.
Samuels turned in another strong performance with the ball, taking two for 30 from four overs.
In the first game – the final one of the preliminaries – Jordan (3-16) and Emrit (3-26) both claimed three-wicket hauls as City Kaitak beat Samuel Badree’s Hong Kong Island United by 50 runs.
