Mariko Hill stars as Hong Kong women cruise to victory in East Asia Cup opener
- Star player Mariko Hill named player of the match after hitting 40 runs from 32 balls and proving dangerous yet again with her bowling
- A decision by skipper Kary Chan the bowl first proved pivotal, with Maryam Bibi taking 2 wickets to restrict Japan to 90/7
Hong Kong women’s T20 cricket squad kicked off their East Asia Cup campaign with a comfortable, eight-wicket win over Japan on Thursday, setting a dominant tone for the remaining three matches.
The Japanese were restricted to 90 for seven from their 20 overs and Hong Kong had little trouble chasing down the target in just 14 overs.
After winning the toss, Hong Kong captain Kary Chan sent the hosts into bat and immediately took control of the game with some sharp bowling and aggressive field play.
Spinner Betty Chan claimed a breakthrough in the third over, taking out the dangerous Shizuka Miyaji for just nine runs. From there, the quick loss of Ahilya Chandel and Hinase Goto – clean bowled by medium pacer Maryam Bibi – spelled trouble for the home side.
At the halfway point, Japan had managed to put just 54 runs on the board, and staring down a run rate of 4.52 attempted to step things up.
