Asia Cup 2018: Hong Kong joins India and Pakistan in Group A
Hong Kong will join defending Champions India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan as the sixth team of the 2018 Asia Cup. Hong Kong, along with five other teams (Nepal, Oman, Singapore, Malaysia and UAE) battled out in the 2018 Asia Cup qualifier and Hong Kong won the tournament to book their place in Asia's premier ODI tournament that will get underway in the United Arab Emirates from September 15 till September 28.
The top two teams from the league stage, UAE and Hong Kong played in the final of the qualifiers to see which team gets into the main draw. UAE after put in to bat first, were off to a good start, thanks to a 54-run partnership between openers Chirag Suri and Ashfaq Ahmed before the former departed for 11.
Hong Kong struck again as they Aizaz Khan dismissed skipper Rohan Mustafa and Rameez Shahzad for 0 and 2 respectively to reduce UAE to 65/3 in 15.2 overs with Ashfaq unbeaten on 43 when rain intervened. The rain showed no mercy and the umpires had to call off the proceedings at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
When the play resumed, UAE managed to score 176 runs in the stipulated 24 overs, thanks to Ashfaq's 51-ball 79 and set Hong Kong a target of 179 in 24 overs. Hong Kong were off to a great start, thanks to their openers Nizakat Khan (38) and Anshuman Rath (28) and cameos from Christopher Carter (33) and Ehsan Khan (29) took their team home by two wickets with three balls to spare.
With this, Hong Kong will join India and Pakistan in the Group A of the tournament. Hong Kong will get their campaign underway against Pakistan on September 16 in Dubai before they take on India on September 18 at the same venue.
Asia Cup 2018 updated schedule:
Sep 15: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, Dubai
Sep 16: Hong Kong vs Pakistan, Dubai
Sep 17: Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, Abu Dhabi
Sep 18: India vs Hong Kong, Dubai
Sep 19: India vs Pakistan, Dubai
Sep 20: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, Abu Dhabi
Sep 21- Sep 26: Super Four matches, both Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Sep 28: Final, Dubai