Pakistan annihilated Hong Kong, beat them by a huge margin of 155 runs, and booked another date vs India on September 4, Sunday. To start with Hong Kong won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Mohammad Rizwan had to work hard for his 78 off 57 balls as Pakistan got a much-needed final flourish to post 193 for two against Hong Kong in their must-win Asia Cup match here on Friday.
Like they had done against India, Hong Kong bowlers did well to keep Pakistan quiet for the majority of the innings before losing their way. With Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman (53 off 41) struggling to find the boundaries, Pakistan reached 64 for one in 10 overs.
Khushdil Shah came up with a 15-ball 35 towards the end to ensure Pakistan put up a strong total. Skipper Babar Azam (9 off 8) endured his second failure in as many innings in the tournament.
Trying to accelerate, Babar went for an aerial stroke over the bowlers' head but ended up hitting straight back to spinner Ehsan Khan, who dived to his right to take a fine catch.
Rizwan could only find the ropes in the fifth over as he squares cut medium pacer Ayush Shukla before guiding it towards the third man for back-to-back fours. The first six of the innings came in the 11th over when Rizwan stepped out to leg-spinner Mohammad Ghazanafar to tonk it straight for a maximum.
With Pakistan in dire need of big hits, Fakhar was able to release some pressure by smashing the spinners for a couple of sixes in the cow corner region. Struggling amid the heat and humidity, Rizwan was able to change gears after completing his half-century.
Lacking experience in crunch situations, Hong Kong bowlers once again lost the plot in the death overs, allowing Pakistan to collect 77 runs off the last 30 balls. The 20th over bowled by Aizaz Khan alone yielded 29 runs and it included five byes and four sixes from Khushdil Shah's bat.
Chasing 194, Hong Kong just couldn't get going and Pakistan bowlers literally ran through them, bundling them out for a mere 38 runs. Shahdab Khan (4/8) was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan.
Records made during the match
- Hong Kong's total of 38 vs Pakistan is the lowest total by any team against them.
- 38 vs Pak is Hong Kong's lowest ever total in T20 cricket. Their previous low was 69 against Nepal in 2014.
- Pakistan's 155-run win is the second biggest in terms of runs in T20 cricket. The best is 172 run win of Sri Lanka vs Kenya in 2007
(Inputs PTI)
