Hardik Pandya is in excellent form, he scored a total of 33 runs at a strike rate of 194.12 in the previous game and picked up 3 wickets as well. Hardik Pandya undoubtedly is the best choice for Captaincy in this game.
2
Rohit Sharma is the best batting picks for your fantasy team. He has scored a total of 3499 runs at a strike rate of 139.73 in T20I.
3
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4W) andArshdeep Singh (2W) are the top bowlers' picks, both of them are in exceptional form and will play an important role in this game. Amongst Wicket-keepers, Scott McKechnie will be one player to watch out for.
4
H2H Stats, Last time when both the teams faced each other India won by 26 runs back in 2018.
The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
And with that, we come to the close of our coverage of cricket for today. It has been an entertaining game all right, do scroll down and have a look at some of the highlights of the day in terms of the Indian batting, compiled by our very own Aaron. Join us again tomorrow as we look forward to bringing you heaps of cricket from all around the globe, quite literally! For now, though, this is I, Rajarshi, along with Sooryanarayanan, signing off! Good night!
Suryakumar Yadav, Player Of The Match: (On whether his shots are pre-determined or instinctive) Some of them are obviously pre-determined, because I feel that this format is all about what you think and how you prepare before going in to bat. So, most of them are. I think the wicket was a little slow, from what it looked from outside, but my plan was really clear in that situation, 5 overs to go, just had to go out there, take the tempo up and enjoy myself. I think you got to be flexible, you should be equipped to bat at any number. I've opened as well, batted at 3, and all numbers while playing for different franchises. So I really love and enjoy it.
Rohit Sharma, India Captain: We batted pretty well to start with, got to a very good score at the end, and then came out and bowled reasonably well, though we could have done slightly better with the ball. (On Suryakumar Yadav's knock) Honestly, the kind of innings he played today, words will fall short. We've seen that he comes up with such knocks every now and then, it's got to do with the confidence he has at the moment, he just comes out and bats fearlessly, which is what the team expects from him. Some shots he played today, aren't written in the book. It was very, very pleasing to watch from the outside. Shot selection was quite crucial, he can play all around the park and that's exactly what he did. (On flexibility in the batting line-up) It's something we want to keep in our minds. We've also informed the group about this. Most of the guys are ready to take their opportunity wherever the team is asking from them. That is the kind of flexibility we need, We can only talk about flexibility, but eventually, you've got to go out there and do it as well. We will take those chances whenever we see that opportunity and the right matchups.
Nizakat Khan, Hong Kong Captain: I think the way we started with the ball, until the 13th over we were amazing. Our fielding was very good as well. We slipped away after the 13th over, especially in the death overs but I must say the way Suryakumar batted was brilliant. It was a big opportunity for all the boys. I know we were away (from the game) for a very long time and the boys were down with injuries. But I'm really proud of them. We're going to sit down and have a look at our death bowling. Today we slipped up there and I'm sure we'll capitalize on where we went wrong and improve in the next game.
Babar Hayat: (On his knock) I think it was much-needed. We were chasing around 200. We needed a good Powerplay and that was in my mind. I was playing my shots and it came off. The kind of cricket we played from Oman to here, we've done really well. A couple of guys bowled really well and there were a lot of positives for us this game. The way Ehsan and Yasim bowled was really good. When the spinners bowled, the ball was not coming onto the bat nicely. The Indian spinners bowled really well.
Match summary: Hong Kong won the toss and opted to bowl
India 1st innings 192/2 (20 Overs) Suryakumar Yadav 68*(26) | Mohammad Ghazanfar 1/19 (2)
Hong Kong 2nd innings 152/5 (20 Overs) Babar Hayat 41(35) | Ravindra Jadeja 1/15 (4)
India win by 40 runs and progress to the Super 4s of the 2022 Asia Cup.
The intent was there from Hong Kong towards the start. Despite the fact that the ball wasn't coming on to the bat well enough, they still tried to go after the bowling early on, and in doing so, Yasim Murtaza had to depart. Babar Hayat came in and showed how it was done, tonking a few glorious hits off the Indian pacers. Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh were taken to the cleaners by the Hong Kong number 3, and as a result, they were able to reach the 50-run mark within the powerplay!
Babar's skipper, Nizakat Khan was then run out completely against the run of play. He sauntered down the pitch having guided the ball towards a certain Ravindra Jadeja, and had to pay the price as he was caught napping while Jadeja pinged the stumps down. Jadeja then proceeded to apply the squeeze to the Hong Kong chase by not conceding a single boundary in four overs, not even giving the singles away either! Needless to say, the pressure was getting to Babar Hayat, he miscued one trying to take the left-arm spinner on and perished!
Kinchit Shah and Aizaz Khan then proceeded to keep Hong Kong in the game for a while. It was a night to forget for Avesh Khan, who missed the right spots more often than not and eventually went for 56 in the night. He did knock the stumps over of Aizaz Khan in between, but he has been taken to the cleaners already by then! With the game drifting away, we got to witness Virat Kohli enjoy himself with an over of himself, he kept things tight with 6 off his solitary over! McKechnie came in and was funky with his strokeplay as always, collected a few boundaries to reduce the margin of defeat. The presentation ceremory will be up in a few moments.....
Despite a convincing victory in the end, Rohit Sharma doesn't seem to be too pleased with the way the Indian bowlers closed the game out. Hong Kong put up a very good fight, they were well and truly in the game at the end of the powerplay, but they lost their way as soon as the spinners came on! India are through to the Super 4s having won both their group matches!
20
overs
152/5score
1
1
4
4
1
1
runs
Zeeshan Ali
26(17)
Scott McKechnie*
16(8)
Arshdeep Singh
1/44
19.6 Arshdeep Singh to Scott McKechnie, THAT'S THAT! Pitched up outside off and McKechnie rounds it off by carving it with an opened bat face to deep point for a solitary run. India romp home by 40 runs and sail through to the Super Four of the Asia Cup 2022!
19.5 Arshdeep Singh to Zeeshan Ali, low full toss just outside off, Zeeshan hangs deep and opens the face of his blade to slice it to deep third man for one.
19.4 Arshdeep Singh to Zeeshan Ali, FOUR! SUPERB BATTING! Nails the yorker outside off but Zeeshan is extremely clever in opening the face of his blade and piercing it into the gap past short third man and backward point to pocket another boundary. Brings up the 150 for Hong Kong!
19.3 Arshdeep Singh to Zeeshan Ali, FOUR! CLEVER! Full and angling into middle and leg, Zeeshan plants his front foot across and laps it fine past the dive of short 45 before the pace on the ball and the outfield takes it racing through to the ropes.
19.2 Arshdeep Singh to Scott McKechnie, gets it into the block hole on off stump, McKechnie makes room and squeezes it on the full for a quick single in front of backward point.
19.1 Arshdeep Singh to Zeeshan Ali, angled too full down leg from around the wicket, Zeeshan flicks it to the fielder at deep backward square leg as he crosses over.
Arshdeep Singh (3-0-32-1) is back into the attack
Scott Mckechnie's ensuring that Hong Kong's Net Run Rate doesn't take too bad a hit! Not that it'll matter much anymore. Hong Kong are set to be up against Pakistan in a literal knockout clash on Friday!
19
overs
140/5score
6
1
0
6
4
4
runs
Zeeshan Ali
16(13)
Scott McKechnie*
14(6)
Avesh Khan
1/53
18.6 Avesh Khan to Scott McKechnie, FOUR MORE! BEATS THE DIVE! Width on offer as he goes short and takes pace off, McKechnie hangs back and opens the face to dab it delicately to the right of short third man whose dive goes in vain. The outfield takes the ball through to the fence thereafter and Avesh bows out with an expensive over!
18.5 Avesh Khan to Scott McKechnie, FOUR MORE! Length delivery speared into the pads and McKechnie clips it up and over the vacant spaces behind square on the leg-side. Picks his spot to good effect and pockets a boundary this time.