Vala’s Gladiators mauled by Jaguars

PAPUA New Guinea’s premier cricketer Assad Vala, pictured, was run out for a duck in his side’s losing run chase of a rain-affected opening fixture against the Hung Hom JD Jaguars in the Hong Kong T20 Blitz yesterday.
The Jaguars hit 145/3 off a re-adjusted 11 overs with former New Zealand allrounder James Franklin belting 58 off 27 balls while West Indian Darren Sammy slammed 52 in equally impressive fashion off just 19 balls.
Vala picked up a wicket for 15 runs off his two overs.
None in the Gladiators batting order could quiet replicate the pyro technics of Franklin or Sammy and could only manage 118 for the loss of eight wickets.
The DTC Hong Kong T20 Blitz is a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament scheduled for its second edition from March 8-12.
Vala is one of five international cricket stars playing for the Gladiators in the franchise competition which includes Kumar Sangakarra (Sri Lanka), Jesse Ryder (New Zealand), Sohail Tanvir (Pakistan) and Seekkuge Prasana (Sri Lanka).
The other major international cricketers taking part in the tournament are Pakistani legends Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal and Misbah Ul-Haq, West Indian stars Samuel Bandree and Marlon Samuels, English Ashes winning hero Ian Bell, former Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan and former South African ODI captain Johan Botha.
The tournament has extended to a five-team competition from the inaugural four with the event held over five days at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Mong Kok.
The Hong Kong T20 Blitz brings the world’s best short form players together the with the premier local domestic cricket talent.
There is also a focus on developing Associate Cricket, with each team required to select at least one overseas player from a non-full member nation. A total of five overseas players per team are permitted in the 2017 tournament.
This is the first time that any Papua New Guinean cricketer has been selected in a professional cricket competition in the world.
Hebou PNG Barramundis’ players Vala (Brisbane Heat), Charles Amini Jr (Sydney Sixers) and Lega Siaka (Melbourne Renegades) all received Cricket Australia’s Big Bash League rookie contracts in the past but never actually played a game.
Teams: Galaxy Gladiators Lantau, Hong Kong Island United, City KaiTak, Kowloon Cantons, Hum Hom JD Jaguars.
Results: Wed, March 8 – Jaguars 145/3 (James Franklin 58, Darren Sammy 52; Azeem Rafiq 2-31, Assad Vala 1-15) Gladiators 118/8 (Anshuman Rath 45, Courtney Kruger 23; Imran Arif 3-18, Ashley Caddy 3-17). Jaguars won by 27 runs; Kaitak 199/6 Cantons 204/2. Cantons won by 8 wickets.
Fixtures: Thurs, March 9 – Jaguars v United, Gladiators v Kaitak; Fri, March 10 – United v Gladiators, Cantons v Jaguars; Sat, March 11 – Cantons v United, Kaitak v Jaguars, Gladiators v Cantons; Sun, March 12 – United v Kaitak, Final.