By Tim Cutler
Game Two Likely Teams (Fantasy Picks in Bold)
| City Kaitak | HKI United |
| Anshuman Rath | Kamran Akmal (Pak) |
| Kyle Coetzer (Sco) | Ryan Ten Doeschate (NED)/ D Wiese (SA) |
| Jamie Atkinson (W/K) | Hussain Talat (Pak) |
| Ravi Bopara | Yasim Murtaza |
| Aizaz Khan | Luke Ronchi (NZ) |
| Umar Mohammad | Tanwir Afzal |
| Waqas Barkat | Ahsan Abbasi |
| Sohail Tanvir (Pak) | Zeeshan Ali |
| Rayad Emrit (WI) | Ehsan Khan |
| Samuel Badree | Daniyal Bukhari / Jason Lui (Dragon) |
| Raag Kapur or Sigfried Wei | Mohammad Irfan (Pak) |
After day one’s disappointing performance on what some described as a two-paced wicket, City Kaitak will be looking to bounce back with a win against Hong Kong Island United.
Despite him taking a wicket with his first ball I think CTK will replace Manjinder Singh with Umar Mohammed, who has good recent local hitting credentials, in an effort to shore up the batting order that let the team down yesterday.
Hong Kong Island United – part of the Leonine Global Sports empire that also owns Islamabad United – will open their 2018 campaign under new coach (and ex Hong Kong head coach) Charlie Burke, who takes over from fellow West Australian Ryan Campbell, with a (potential) team that bats to number eleven and with at least six genuine bowlers.
Yasim Murtaza is a new pro to the HK scene this year and he has been very impressive – his orthodox spin has great control and craft, whilst his batting has an eerie calm not often seen in Associate circles. Even though this is his first season Hong Kong, surely Simon Cook and co already have his name on a clip board or two for Hong Kong representation down the line.
HKIU’s depth is such a strength this year and despite the fight CTK will bring to the match after their loss first up, I cannot see them getting past the United XI.
