India wins the Plate Final against Hong Kong

India beat Hong Kong by five wickets in the Plate Final to take the fifth position in the Cathay Pacific/Standard Chartered Cricket Sixes 2001, being played at the Kowloon Cricket Club in Hong Kong, on Sunday.

India won the toss and asked Hong Kong to have a bat first. Only Hussain Butt (16) and Smart (14) got to double figures, all others fell cheaply; Stuart Brew (2), Rahul Sharma (8), Najeeb Amar (3) and Smith (6). Robin Singh took three catches and Rohan Gavaskar held two to restrict the Hong Kong score to 52/5. There were some good performance with the ball; Joshi (1-0-4-1) and Mohd Kaif (1-0-5-2) made life difficult for the home side.

India had a shocking start, losing Nikhil Chopra off the very first ball, bowled by Smith. Badani and Robin Singh took control of the situation with some lusty hitting. Brew suffers the most as Robin Singh launched an assault, smashing three huge sixes. Badani remained unbeaten on 27 off right deliveries, with the help of five boundaries and a six. Robin Singh smashed a huge six off Amar to take India past the target, with almost two overs to spare. Robin Singh remained 27* off 10 balls (4 sixes).