India vs Hong Kong || Asia Cup Tournament

India vs Hong Kong || Asia Cup

It has been a positive outcome for the Indians after having a tough time in the first half of the second innings. The bowlers did a good job in pulling back the momentum and win by 26 runs for their side after being belted by the openers for more than half of the 50 overs. Khaleel Ahmed bowled at a pace of 140 Kms continuously and one must appreciate his comeback after being belted during his initial overs. The spinners Yuzvendra Chahal as well as Kuldeep Yadav did a good job in pulling the strings back by giving minimal runs during their spells. Bhuvi did look a bit rusty but as we all know he has come back to the International arena after an injury. As a whole, as far as the bowling unit is concerned, they got a lot of things to learn from this game and could as well utilize it smartly going forward in the tournament.

It would be not fair to specify the hard-earned performance of this young Hong Kong Team. A great way to enter the international arena by qualifying for the Asia Cup Tournament. Kinchit Shah, Anshuman Rath, Nizakat Khan were the pick of the players for the Hong Kong Team.

After putting India to bat, the bowlers bowled well in the first 10 overs and were successful in getting the wicket of Rohit Sharma for just 23 runs when the Indin scorecard read 45 on the board. Shikar Dhawan and Ambati Raidu steadied the Indian innings by maintaining a partnership of 116 runs for the second wicket. Ambati Raydu departed after making a decent half-century off 60 runs of 70 deliveries. Shikar Dhawan, on the other hand, was scoring at a decent pace along with Dinesh Karthik and reached his 14th ODI ton by just facing 105 deliveries. After making 127 runs, Shikar departed when the Indian score was 241 runs from 41 overs. Soon Dinesh Karthik (33 of 38 balls) and Dhoni departed one after the other. It was evident that the Indian line-up started to find it difficult during the last part of the innings and were able to score only 48 runs of the last 10 overs and pose a target of 287 for the Hong Kong side.

Shikar Dhawan, 14th ODI Ton

In the second half, Hong Kong openers batted with positive intent and held a partnership of 174 runs for the first wicket. Both the openers departed one after the other. We should appreciate their sincere efforts to put such an effort against the number 1 team in the world.

Anshuman the captain scored 73 runs while Nizakat Khan scored a brilliant 92 runs. Both the openers were commendable. Once the openers were back at the pavilion, it was time for the Indian team to pull all the strings back to their end. ultimately they were able to seal the victory against the Hong Kong side by 26 runs.

Hong Kong Openers

A valiant effort by the Hong Kong team in this tournament. Unfortunately, the run for the Asia Cup is over for them in this season. India has their next game against Pakistan who looks determined after bowling the Hong Kong team for just 116 runs and chasing it comfortably with a loss of just 2 wickets.

A decent win for the Indian Team in the end but the Championship has just begun. They have their next match against their Arch rivals Pakistan. Well, a positive outcome for the Indians in their first match and they would be hoping to achieve the same in their next encounter against Pakistan as well.