Afghanistan started their Asia Cup campaign with a commanding 94-run win over Hong Kong in a Group B encounter at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
It was also the third biggest victory by margins in the T20 edition of the continental tournament. The match was marred with a sloppy fielding effort by both sides as eight catches were dropped throughout the clash, the joint-most in the men’s T20I since 2020.
Chasing 189, Hong Kong had a turbulent start to their innings as Fazalhaq Farooqi dismissed opener Anshuman Rath on a duck on the second ball of the innings.
Zeeshan Ali and Nizakat Khan soon followed suit, as Afghanistan got total control of the match very early in the innings. Kalhan Challu was the fourth batter to be sent back to the pavilion in the powerplay as Hong Kong were reeling at 23/4 after the six overs. Kinchit Shah also failed to prolong his stay at the crease and fell to spinner Noor Ahmad in the 10th over.
Babar Hayat was the only batter to show some resistance and contributed 39 runs, including three fours, before being dismissed by Gulbadin Naib. In the end, Afghanistan’s bowlers collectively reduced Hong Kong to 94/9 to start the tournament on a high.
For Afghanistan, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Gulbadin Naib bagged two scalps each, while captain Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad and Azmatullah Omarzai got a wicket each.
Earlier, half-centuries from Sediqullah Atal and Azmatullah Omarzai guided Afghanistan to 188/6 in 20 overs.
Opting to bat first, Afghanistan opener Sediqullah Atal started the team’s campaign with a boundary on the first ball of the match. He followed it with a back-to-back fours off Ayush Shukla to wrap the opening over.
Atal continued his free-flowing approach in Ateeq Iqbal’s next over before Rahmanullah Gurbaz struck the Shukla for a maximum just before the pacer dismissed him on the next ball. Ibrahim Zadran, who came to bat at No. 3, had a negligible impact on the scoreboard and was removed by Iqbal in the fourth over.
Two early wickets impacted the scoring rate, but Atal and Mohammad Nabi stitched a vital partnership in the middle and kept the scoreboard moving as Afghanistan reached 41/2 at the end of the powerplay.
Nabi took a special liking towards pacer Aizaz Khan and struck him for a four and a six in his first over of the spell. In his next over, Nabi smashed Khan for two more boundaries as Afghanistan reached 77/2 at the halfway mark.
Spinner Kinchit Shah finally broke the 51-run partnership in the 11th over, with Nabi handing a catch to long-off and departing after scoring 33. Gulbadin Naib, who struck the Shah for a six over deep mid-wicket, failed to carry the momentum and was dismissed by the spinner in the 13th over to put pressure on Afghanistan. Azmatullah Omarzai joined Atal in the middle.
Meanwhile, Atal completed his well-deserved and disciplined half-century in 41 balls as Afghanistan reached 110/4 after 15 overs.
In the death overs, Atal and Azmatullah pushed the run rate to the roof as the duo only dealt in boundaries to push the total tawards 200. Atal hit Iqbal for consecutive sixes after Azmatullah opened the over with a boundary.
In the penultimate over of the innings, Azmatullah smashed Shukla for three successive maximums and a four to complete his maiden T20I fifty in just 20 balls. On the next ball, he was dismissed by the pacer to end with the figures of 2-54 from his four overs.
Afghanistan only added nine runs in the final over of the innings to finish for 188/6 in 20 overs as Atal remained unbeaten on 73 in 52 balls, including three sixes and six fours.
Despite the spirited bowling effort from Hong Kong, the sloppy fielding led them down. The team dropped multiple catches as Afghanistan reaped the benefit of it.
For Hong Kong, Kinchit Shah was the pick of the bowlers with 2-24 in his three overs.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 188/6 in 20 overs (Sediqullah Atal 73, Azmatullah Omarzai 53, Mohammad Nabi 33; Kinchit Shah 2-24) beat Hong Kong 94/9 in 20 overs (Babar Hayat 39, Yasim Murtaza 16; Gulbadin Naib 2-8, Fazalhaq Farooqi 2-16) by 94 runs.
