India defeated Hong Kong by 40 runs in their second Asia Cup 2022 fixture on Wednesday, 31 August. With this victory, India remained at the top of the Group A standings and have also qualified for the 'Super Four' stage.
Sent into bat first at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, India scored 192/2, with Virat Kohli (59*) and Suryakumar Yadav (68*) being the team's main contributors.
India had a sedate start to the game, with both openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma struggling to get a move on. The skipper could only score 21 runs before losing his wicket to Ayush Shukla, and while Rahul scored 36 runs, he ended up facing 39 deliveries.
Thankfully for the Indian team, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav’s third-wicket stand turned the game on its head. While Kohli predominantly dealt in singles, Yadav played a plethora of unorthodox shots to score runs at a brisk pace.
Entering the final over on 42, Suryakumar smashed Haroon Arshad for four sixes from five balls, helping India amass 26 runs. He got to his fifty in just 22 balls, while the 31-year-old remained not out on 68 runs from only 26 deliveries.
Virat Kohli was seen in his usual rhythm after a long while. The former Indian skipper brought up his 31st T20I half-century, accumulating unbeaten 59 runs from 44 deliveries.
Suryakumar Yadav played a sensational knock of 68 runs from 26 deliveries.
(Photo: PTI)
In reply, Hong Kong were stopped at 152 for five in their allotted 20 overs as India entered the Super 4 stage of the tournament. Babar Hayat and Kinchit Shah showed some resilience, but barring them, no Hong Kong batter could breach the 30-run mark.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja and Yuzvendra Chahal were the pick of the bowlers as all of them conceded under 6 runs per over. While Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan were among wickets, they turned out to be expensive.
India's Super Four campaign will start against the second-placed team of Group A on 4 September, before they take on Afghanistan on 6 September. In their last Super Four fixture, Rohit Sharma's team will take on the second-placed team of Group B on 8 September.
(With PTI inputs).
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