Asian Games: Hong Kong’s skipper Chan sets record as women bounce back to thrash Mongolia in cricket qualifier
- Kary Chan sets new record for highest innings by a woman at an Asian Games, while Hong Kong’s total of 202 is best T20 score ever
- Andy Cottam’s side will now face Bangladesh in the quarter-finals on Friday
Hong Kong will face Bangladesh in the quarter-finals of the women’s cricket at the Asian Games on Friday, after a favourable draw kept them away from gold medal favourites India and Pakistan.
A thumping 180-run victory over Mongolia in their second qualification match on Wednesday sends Andy Cottam’s team into the last eight with their confidence restored, and opening batter Natasha Miles said she did not care who they played after the record-setting win.
Hong Kong’s total of 202 was their biggest in a T20 international, while skipper Kary Chan’s innings of 70 was the highest individual score by a batter in the history of the women’s tournament, eclipsing the 63 Japan’s Ema Kuribayashi compiled against Nepal at the 2010 Games in Guangzhou.
“I’d take any of them - India, Pakistan - we want to face the best, that’s why we are here,” Miles said. “We want to put our skills to the test, face a challenge and show them what we’ve got.”
Malaysia’s reward for comfortably beating Hong Kong on Tuesday is a place in the first semi-final against India, with Indonesia, who inflicted a 172-run defeat on Mongolia, facing Pakistan.
Sri Lanka and Thailand, the two other sides to be handed direct entry to the quarter-finals, battle each other in the early game on Friday, before Hong Kong take to the pitch.
