Suryakumar Yadav’s blistering 68*, Virat Kohli’s 59* and Ravindra Jadeja’s quick fielding helped India secure direct qualification to the Super Four phase of the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 after beating Hong Kong by 40 runs here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
India outplayed Hong Kong in all departments and also became the second team to qualify for the Super four. Chasing 193, Hong Kong got off to a bad start after their opening batter Yasim Murtaza lost his wicket. After getting hit for two fours, Arshdeep Singh gave Team India their first breakthrough in the form of Yasim Murtaza’s wicket, which was caught by Avesh Khan.
The spinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja delivered fantastically and did not allow Hong Kong bowlers to score big runs in the innings. After 10 overs, Hong Kong’s score read 65/2.
Earlier, Virat Kohli’s much-anticipated fifty and Suryakumar Yadav’s blistering 68* guided India to 192/2 against Hong Kong.
Kohli smashed an unbeaten 59 while Suryakumar scored 68* to guide India to a challenging total. For Hong Kong, Mohammad Ghazanfar and Ayush Shukla bagged one wicket each.
Put to bat first, India got off to a flying start as their openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul hammered Hong Kong bowlers for 38 runs in under five overs.
The hard-hitting batter Suryakumar Yadav entered the crease and scored back-to-back two fours of Yasim Murtaza’s bowling to ease the pressure on the Indian team. With some blistering shots by Suryakumar, team India ended the 14th over with 107 runs on the board and a loss of two wickets.
Haroon Arshad was hammered for 26 runs and India posted 192/2 on in 20 overs.
Brief score: India 192/2 (Suryakumar Yadav 68*, Virat Kohli 59*; Mohammad Ghazanfar 1-19) vs Hong Kong (Babar Hayat 41, Kinchit Shah 30; Ravindra Jadeja 1-15).