SHARJAH – Pakistan beat Hong Kong by 155 runs in the knockout game of Asia Cup 2022 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday, making it to the Super Four Stage.
Batting first, Pakistan set a 194-run target for Hong Kong. Chasing the target, the entire Hong Kong team collapsed at 38 runs. Pakistan’s Shadab Khan took four wickets, Mohammad Nawaz 3, Naseem Shah 2 and Shahnawaz Dahani 1.
From the Pakistani side, Mohammad Rizwan remained the top scorer with 78 runs (not out). Fakhar Zaman scored 53 runs and Khushdil Shah 35 runs (not out). Hong Kong bowlers didn’t show an up to the mark performance as they could pick only two wickets.
Earlier, Hong Kong won the toss and elected to field first.
This was the first match between the two teams in the shortest format.
Both sides faced each other after suffering defeat from India in their group matches.
The Asia Cup 2022 comprises two groups, featuring six teams from the Asia region. Pakistan, India and Hong Kong are in the Group A while Afghanistan is in Group B along with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
From Group B, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have qualified for the Super Four Stage while India is the first from Group A to book a place in the next round.
Squads
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir
Hong Kong: Nizakat Khan (capt), Yasim Murtaza, Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, Aizaz Khan, Scott McKechnie (wk), Zeeshan Ali, Haroon Arshad, Ehsan Khan, Ayush Shukla, Mohammad Ghazanfar
Asia Cup 2022: Sri Lanka advances to Super 4 after beating Bangladesh in must win encounter
