Indians to score an ODI century against Hong Kong
India and Hong Kong have faced off each other on only two occasions in the One Day International (ODI) format. Both these games were played in the Asia Cup tournament – the first instance was in 2008 while the second instance was in the ongoing 2018 tournament in UAE. The game in 2008 was a pretty one-sided affair, heavily in favor of India while Hong Kong showed a lot of fighting spirit in the second game in 2018!
On both occasions, India batted first and piled runs on the board tackling the Hong Kong bowlers with ease. A total of three centuries were scored by the Indian batsmen in these two games. Let us look at the three centuries scored by Indians against Hong Kong.
Suresh Raina (2008)
A 66-ball hundred from the bat of Suresh Raina, his maiden ODI hundred, lit up the Karachi stadium in 2018 against Hong Kong. He scored 101 runs from 68 deliveries with 7 fours and 5 sixes while involving in a 166-run partnership for the fourth wicket along with Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Raina’s 66-ball century in this innings was the second-fastest hundred by an Indian in ODIs then. Mohammad Azharuddin’s 62-ball hundred against New Zealand in 1988 was the fastest in this category. Currently, Virat Kohli is the holder of this record having scored a 52-ball 100* against Australia in 2013.
Breaking records while scoring a maiden century will be a great feeling for any player. Suresh Raina had this feeling during this knock against Hong Kong and since then he became a dependable middle order batsman for India, and has cored five centuries and 36 half-centuries in ODIs till date.