Kohli registers 40-run win over Hong Kong with an unbeaten half-century from the Men in Blue
Kohli registers 40-run win over Hong Kong with an unbeaten half-century from the Men in Blue
India ended their Asia Cup Group ‘A’ campaign with a comfortable 40-run win over Hong Kong at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here on Wednesday. India qualified for the Super Four with two wins in the same number of matches.
India set Hong Kong a mammoth target of 193 runs, which proved to be a mountain to climb for such a high peak. Hong Kong managed to bat in the full 20 overs but failed to face a serious challenge.
With the game in the bag, there was a stir in the crowd when part-timer Virat Kohli came to bowl in the 17th over. Speedsters Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh conceded a frightening outing in their four overs conceding 53 and 44 respectively.
After being called to bat, India made an unusually slow start to post a decent total. Suryakumar Yadav (68 No., 26B, 6×4, 6×6) started the jet when the run rate needed a boost. The Mumbai batsman was aggressive from start to finish, opening his account with sweep fours and ending the innings with four sixes in the last over.
In the 16th over, a scoop six off fast bowler Ejaz Khan showed his wide shots. Suryakumar was bowled by Haroon Arshad in the last over, smashing the pacer across the park.
Fireworks from Suryakumar helped India post 54 runs in the last three overs, effectively putting the total out of Hong Kong’s reach.
While Suryakumar typed out the team management’s instructions to play the attacking brand of cricket, KL Rahul (36, 39b, 2×6) and Virat Kohli (59 no, 44b, 1×4, 3×6) were on alert for a mistake. Rahul got out a lot for failing to get the ball out of the square.
The Karnataka opener ate a lot of dot balls and made good connections only twice.
Kohli did a little better, but he was never electric. Surprisingly, Rahul and Kohli showed no attacking intent, preferring to strike here and there for singles. India scored 44 for one at the end of the powerplay, and 70 for one when drinks were called after 10 overs.
Both shared a partnership of 56 runs in 49 balls for the second wicket. Rahul was dismissed when he sweeps a delivery from spinner Mohammad Ghazanfar, which was collected by wicketkeeper Scott McKennie. Rohit Sharma (21, 13b, 2×4, 1×6) was deceived by pacer Aayush Shukla, who picked up the pace with the ball and caught the batsman playing too early.
India didn’t experiment much with their playing XI, making just one change from the team that faced Pakistan. Rishabh Pant came in place of Hardik Pandya. Pant kept the wicket while Dinesh Karthik did the fielding.