The first men's East Asia Cup since 2018 took place at Hong Kong's Mission Road Ground these past few days with the hosts beating Japan by 34 runs in today's final.

Whilst previous editions of the tournament featured South Korea and Hong Kong were represented by a team of ethnic Chinese players called the Dragons, this tournament featured the full Hong Kong side with China and Japan the other two participants.

Hong Kong went through the round-robin stage unbeaten with Japan winning both their games against China, including a 180 run demolition of China in which Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming and Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake batted throughout Japan's innings with a 258 run partnership, the highest in all men's List A T20 cricket.

With China eliminated without a win, Hong Kong and Japan met in today's final with Japan captain Kadowaki-Fleming chosing to bowl first after winning the toss. Nizakat Khan top scored for the home side with 81 from 48 balls as they racked up 219-7 from their 20 overs.

In reply, a few Japanese batters were able to get starts but none went on to make a big score, with Declan Suzuki's 37 their top score. Ehsan Khan and Yasim Murtaza both took three wickets as Japan made 185-8 from their 20 overs, losing by 34 runs.

The tournament will have served as good preparation for Hong Kong's participation in April's ACC Premier Cup in Oman where they have been placed in a group with Malaysia, Nepal, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The other group consists of Bahrain, Cambodia, Kuwait, Oman and UAE.