Asia Cup: India defeat Hong Kong by 40 runs

India defeated Hong Kong by 40 runs in their second match of Asia Cup 2022. This was the first time in last 8 matches when the side batting first won the match. 

Hong Kong lost their first wicket with just 12 runs on the board. However, they recovered well scoring 50 runs at the end of the powerplay. They lost their second wicket, Nizakat Khan, the skipper on the very last ball of the sixth over after having scored 10 runs in 12 balls. Ravindra Jadeja took the all important third wicket of Babar Hayat who was out for 41. 

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Suryakumar Yadav scored a half-century in just 22 balls with a strike rate just under 250. Hitting four sixes in the final over, he took India to 192. 

Virat Kohli returned to runs against Hong Kong Wednesday. The former India captain, one of the most successful, scored a solid half century. This was Kohli’s second T20I fifty this year. He has scored two one-day half centuries this year. Kohli received the support of Suryakumar Yadav. 

Before this, KL Rahul was dismissed for 36 runs in 39 balls in the match against Hong Kong on Wednesday evening. Rahul kept things slow through his innings and went on to forge a 50-run partnership with Virat Kohli after giving India a solid start with Rohit Sharma. 

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Hong Kong won the toss against India in their second match of Asia Cup 2022 and chose to bowl first in their second Asia Cup 2022 group stage match on Wednesday, August 31, 2022. The Men in Blue are aiming to win a second consecutive match at the continental tournament before they head over to the Super 4s, which is scheduled to begin on Saturday, September 3.

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India began their Asia Cup campaign impressively, defeating arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium. They will now face Hong Kong at the same venue on Wednesday evening.

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While India is one of the favourites to win the Asia Cup 2022, Hong Kong has been impressive in the qualifiers. For the first time in the tournament, they will now face the defending champions in a virtual quarterfinal, hoping to put up a fight against Team India.

The Indians sought optional training sessions ahead of the game to avoid the heat and give senior players in the squad the chance of a break. At least four senior players — captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Bhvneshwar Kumar were given the day off ahead of the match while the rest of the squad trained in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong trained at night. They have played at least 30 matches in the last 90 days, including Namibia, Jersey, Oman, Zimbabwe and Uganda. However, it will be an uphill task for them to overcome the Indian challenge, something their coach Trent Johnson is not taking lightly.

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The pitch is expected to be fresh and hard, which will allow the pacers for the extra bouncers. Dew has been absent in Dubai since the Asia Cup began, which has helped reduce the difficulty of bowling second. However, the heat has played spoilsport in the tournament so far, with both India and Pakistan hit by over-rate penalties.

The match is set to begin at 7:30 pm at the Dubai International Stadium and a win will help Team India to advance to the Super 4s.

India XI: Rohit Sharma(captain), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh

Hong Kong XI: Nizakat Khan(captain), Yasim Murtaza, Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, Aizaz Khan, Scott McKechnie(wk), Zeeshan Ali, Haroon Arshad, Ehsan Khan, Ayush Shukla, Mohammad Ghazanfar