All you need to know about the Hong Kong T20 Blitz

The third season of the Hong Kong T20 Blitz is set to be played February 6 onwards continuing till February 11. The inaugural edition was played in 2016. It consisted of four franchised teams playing in a Twenty20 format. Kowloon Cantons and Woodworm Island Warriors were joint winners of the inaugural Hong Kong T20 Blitz after rain washed out finals day.

In 2017, Kowloon Cantons were the winners yet again while City Kaitak were the runners-up. In the second edition too the tournament lasted for 5 days, just like the first time. This year, 2017 finalists City Kaitak will face off against Hung Hom JD Jaguars in the tournament opener on Tuesday the 6th at 2 pm, with the tournament extended to a sixth day to remove the triple-header of games previously played on Saturday.

City Kaitak will back up on the morning of the second day’s action against HKI United while defending champions Kowloon Cantons will begin their tournament defence against Galaxy Gladiators Lantau in the Wednesday afternoon match. The tournament final will be played between the top two sides at 2 pm on Sunday, February 11. All the matches will be played at the Mission Road Ground, Mong Kok.

All teams:

Hung Hom JD Jaguars, Kowloon Cantons, City Kaitak, Galaxy Gladiators Lantau and Hong Kong Island Unite

What’s different:

Apart from the addition of a day, in an attempt to make the third edition bigger and better, efforts have been made to push the viewership of the tournament. Cricket Hong Kong’s distribution partner Sunset+Vine has secured broadcasting deals for the Hong Kong T20 Blitz that has the potential to reach 175 million viewers worldwide.

As reported by South China Morning Post, the broadcasting rights will allow the tournament to raise its profile around the world. Out of the potential 175 million audience, organisers are hoping at least 30 million will tune into the Blitz – a significant viewership that would help them secure more sponsorship for the future.

The partnership with Sunset+Vine will enable Cricket Hong Kong to produce its highest quality broadcast production to date as it continues to build on the momentum from the T20 Blitz live-stream last March, which attracted nearly 12 million views across digital channels.

Sunset+Vine is the production partner for all the International Cricket Council’s major events from 2016 to 2019, including the ICC World Cup and ICC World Twenty20 tournaments.

Big names:

The tournament will still boast quality names in Kumar Sangakkara, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Smith, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan and Sohail Tanvir, among others. However, Chris Lynn, one of the world’s top T20 batsmen, was picked for Australia’s T20 series against England that clashed with the Blitz and as a result, was forced to pull out of the Hung Hom JD Jaguars team. His injury at the moment is a separate issue altogether.

Where to watch:

BT Sport (UK), Fox Sports (Australia), OSN (Middle East), Neo Sports (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), ESPN Caribbean, DSports (India) and Chinese-owned StarTimes (Africa)