Asia Cup 2018: India vs Hong Kong, 3 things we learnt from the match

In a low key encounter at Dubai, Hong Kong won the toss and decided to bowl. Rohit and Dhawan strung together a decent partnership. Once Rohit was dismissed, Rayudu combined with Dhawan and kept the scoreboard ticking at regular intervals.

The Hong Kong spinners utilized the dry pitch to perfection and did not allow the experienced Indian batsmen to run away with the match. Once, Rayudu departed Karthik gave Shikhar decent company before falling to left-arm spinner Kinchit Shah. Dhoni came in at number 5 but disappointed everyone as he went for a duck. Dhawan got to his century but failed to convert it into a mammoth score as he departed for 127.

India’s decision to go with five bowlers did not help their batting cause as it severely slowed down their acceleration towards the end. They only scored 47 runs from the final 10 overs and finished with 285 runs on the board, way below the expected total at the 40 over mark.

The Hong Kong openers began the chase in a very positive manner as they scored boundaries regularly against India’s spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar. What looked like a decent partnership turned into a potential game-changing one as they kept accelerating at a decent pace and kept the required run rate under 6 for the first 20 overs.

After a humungous opening stand of 174 runs, Kuldeep Yadav finally struck with the wicket of Anshuman Rath. Then, a mini-collapse ensued as India dismissed Nizakat Khan, Carter and Babar Hayat one after the other. India showed their experience in the last few overs as they kept a calm head and ensured there were no free balls to score boundaries.

In the end, Hong Kong fell short by 26 runs in their spirited chase. Here are the 3 things we learnt from the match,

#1 Dhawan’s consistency in ODIs

Dhawan is slowly becoming one of India’s best openers in ODIs as he scored the 14th century of his career in just 105 innings which is just 2 more than Virat Kohli. This year, he has been in unstoppable form in ODIs with 570 runs at an average of 63.33 and a mindblowing strike rate of 106.34.

In spite of an arduous tour of England, Shikhar showed no signs of slowing down in ODIs as he looked very comfortable throughout and stroked his way to another enterprising century. Dhawan will be one of India’s key players during the World Cup provided he continues his fine run of form.

#2 Hong Kong’s record-breaking opening stand

Very few would have given Hong Kong, a team which recently lost its ODI status, a chance of chasing 286 against a 5 man Indian bowling attack. But the openers of HK, Nizakat Khan and Anshuman Rath proved everyone wrong as they almost singlehandedly won the match for their team.

The most impressive aspect of their 174 run opening stand was the discipline they displayed while playing India’s spinners. They perfectly understood the match situation and rarely attempted a slog during their stay at the crease. On any other day, a performance like this would have given their team a victory but the inexperienced middle order of HK choked under pressure and threw away an easy victory.

#3. Jadhav’s invaluable middle overs spell

The match was slipping away from the grasp of the Indians at the end of first 20 overs as the HK openers added 110 runs. Once again Jadhav proved his worth to the team as he bowled a very tidy 7 over spell giving away only 27 runs.

He stopped the steady flow of runs as the HK openers found it a bit difficult to pick the angle because of his low round-arm action. His spell gave Rohit a bit more flexibility to rotate the other 5 bowlers and it also put some scoreboard pressure on the HK batsmen.