By V. Krishnaswamy, IANS
Hong Kong : Five of the players in the All Stars Team may have called it a day from international cricket, but they still gelled well to pack enough power and punch to win all three matches on the first day of the two-day Cathay Pacific-Standard Chartered Hong Kong Sixes.
They gave the cricket-starved crowd enough thrills to make them come back on Sunday to the cosy looking Kowloon Cricket Club, which sits right in the middle of Kowloon, one of the busiest areas in the city.
Barring Anil Kumble, who is still a force to reckon with in Test cricket, Shane Warne, Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath, Heath Streak and Craig McMillan have all retired from international cricket. But that mattered little to the spectators numbering almost 2,500. They had their money’s worth and with the players obliging with autographs and photographs, it was a Saturday well spent for the holiday crowd.
Though Shane Warne arrived only late on Friday after attending his friend’s funeral in Melbourne, he was all smiles. And he led the All Stars in style as they beat Australia, Bangladesh and South Africa.
Former New Zealand International Craig McMillan, always a nightmare for bowlers in his heydays, showed that he had lost none of that touch and he was the man for All Stars as he walloped the bowlers all over, getting 30 against Australia, 33 against Bangladesh and 21 against South Africa.
All Stars also recorded the day’s highest with 120 runs in five overs with McMillan helping himself to 30 and Streak to 36. Anil Kumble, who last night admitted that his Test century against England earlier this year was a big highlight in his long career, showed glimpses of that form with a savage 28 and he also had 12 from two sixes against Australia.
“That sure was fun and it is great to share a dressing room with guys who are legends and have been on the opposite side in the past,” said Kumble.
Lara, at times looking tired said he was still to get over his long flight from Port of Spain to London to Hong Kong. He even sat out one match much to the disappointment of the spectators.
The only other team to have remained unbeaten on the first day was Sri Lanka, which beat Hong Kong by 23 runs and Pakistan by four wickets.
The Indian team, which arrived only on Friday evening, had one win and one loss.
The Robin Singh-led squad, which included both Ajay Jadeja and Nikhil Chopra, beat New Zealand by four runs and then crashed to a three-wicket loss to England in the final match of the day. India play Australia and in case they win, they get a chance to play another game in an attempt to try and find a berth in the semi-finals.
Each batting side faces five overs and those five overs are split equally among five of the six players in the fielding side. The wicketkeeper is the only one who may excuse himself from bowling and that’s what Lara did. Lara also sat out one match, when Geraint Jones took his place.
Hong Kong Sixes Results Day 1:
Cowdrey Group
Sri Lanka beat Hong Kong by 23 runs: Sri Lanka 90 for 2 (Jeevnatha 29, Indika 34), Hong Kong 67 for 5 (Manoj 27)
Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 4 wickets. Pakistan 71 for 3 (Arafat 31, Shahid 29), Sri Lanka 72 for 1 (Saman 31)
Sobers Group
Bangladesh beat Australia by 4 wickets: Australia 64 for 5, Bangladesh 68 for 2 (Aftab 35)
All Stars beat Australia by 5 wickets: Australia 71 for 1 (O’Keefe 32), All Stars 72 for 1 (McMillan 30, Lara 31)
South Africa beat Bangladesh by 39 runs: South Africa 115 for 1 (Bodi 32, Henderson 32, Petersen 27), Bangladesh 76 for 3 (Sidique 31)
All Stars beat Bangladesh by 39 runs: All Stars 120 for 1 (McMillan 33, Streak 36, Kumble 28), Bangladesh 81 for 2 (Hossain 31)
South Africa beat Australia by 18 runs: South Africa 96 for 2 (Bodi 31, Peterson 31), Australia 78 for 2 (Reardon 30, O’Brien 35)
All Stars beat South Africa by 5 wkts: South Africa 66 for 2 (Kleinveldt 26, Coetsee 16).
All Stars 67 for 0 (McMillan 21, Streak 36)
Bradman Group
New Zealand beat England by 4 wickets: England 96 for 2 (Maddy 31, Gidman 26), New Zealand 99 for 2 (Spearman 33, Hitchcock 32)
India beat New Zealand by 4 runs: India 88 for 0 (Sodhi 35, Jadeja 31), New Zealand 84 for 1 (Spearman 31)
England beat India by 3 wickets: India 63 for 3 (Bhatia 33), England 66 for 3 (Kabir Ali 18, Bresnan 16)