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India defeated Hong Kong by 40 runs in their second Asia Cup 2022 fixture.
Rohit Sharma's team scored 192 runs after being asked to bat first.
Suryakumar Yadav scored 68 runs in only 26 deliveries.
Virat Kohli brought up his 31st T20I half-century.
In response, Hong Kong could score only 152 runs.
With this win, India have qualified for the 'Super Four' stage.
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In their second match of Asia Cup 2022, India will take on Hong Kong today, 31 August, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
The men in blue have had the perfect start to their campaign, as they defeated Pakistan by five wickets in their opening fixture. A win here against Hong Kong will help Rahul Dravid's team confirm their berth in the 'Super Four' stage.
Given the gulf between the sides in terms of quality, which is highlighted by a 19-place difference in the ICC Men's T20I team ranking of the two sides, India will certainly start this match as the firm favourites. However, as we witnessed in the last edition of the Asia Cup, one can ill-afford to take Hong Kong lightly.
Momentum will work in Hong Kong's favour, as Nizakat Khan's boys played an impressive brand of cricket in the qualifiers. They won all three matches, beating Kuwait, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates in the process. Hong Kong are currently occupying 20th place in the ICC Men's T20I team rankings, and every single player from their camp will be eager to punch above their weight against the most successful team in this competition.
Hong Kong skipper Nizakat Khan has won the toss, and unsurprisingly, he has decided to bowl first. The Dubai International Cricket Stadium offers seam movement in the initial overs, which could help his pacers.
From the Indian perspective, this will be a new test for their batting order, having chased in the last match against Pakistan.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma has announced one tweak in the playing XI, with Rishabh Pant replacing Hardik Pandya. "Hardik is rested considering how important he is for us, Pant comes in. We just want to continue to do what we are doing as a team. We don't want to look at the opposition and play good and hard cricket. We need to do our basics right, which is what got us a victory against Pakistan," Rohit said after the toss.
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.
Hong Kong Playing XI: Nizakat Khan(c), Yasim Murtaza, Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, Aizaz Khan, Scott McKechnie(w), Zeeshan Ali, Haroon Arshad, Ehsan Khan, Ayush Shukla, Mohammad Ghazanfar.
The Indian openers, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, decided against taking avoidable risks in the first over. Five runs comes from Haroon Arshad's six deliveries.
KL Rahul, who was dismissed for a duck against Pakistan, is looking slightly shaky today as well. Only one run comes from Ayush Shukla's over as India are now 6/0 after two overs.
After only two overs, the Indian openers have decided it is time to go for the big shots. 22 runs comes from the third over, which included two sixes and a four. India are now 28/0.
With the pacers turning out to be expensive, Nizakat Khan turned to his experienced spinner, Ehsan Khan for the fourth over. It proved to be a good move as Khan conceded only five runs in his over.
Ayush Shukla has got the first breakthrough for Hong Kong, and it is the crucial wicket of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. Having just hit a four in the previous delivery, Rohit went for another big hit but ended up giving a catch to Aizaz Khan at mid-on.
Virat Kohli is the new batter in for India, but like the openers, he too has opted to get his eye in before unleashing the fireworks. Only five runs comes from Ehsan Khan's over, as India are 44/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Hong Kong could have had another wicket as KL Rahul skied the ball in an attempt to play the pull shot. Thankfully for him, the ball landed a few metres ahead of where the third man was placed. India are 52/1 at the end of 7 overs.
The spinners are doing a decent job here for Hong Kong. In his first over, Yasim Murtaza conceded only five runs as India are now 57/1 at the end of eight overs.
KL Rahul struck a maximum in the ninth over, but barring that, Aizaz Khan conceded only three singles. India are now 66/1 with a bit more than half of the inning left, and perhaps it is now time to get a move on.
Yasim Murtaza is offering the Indian batters absolutely no pace, and both Rahul and Kohli are struggling against the former Rawalpindi player. Having conceded five runs in his first over, Murtaza has leaked only four runs in his second over. At the end of 10 overs, India are 70/1.
Right then, the message must have come from the dressing room as Virat Kohli is now going after the bowlers. Including a six from his bat, India accumulate 10 runs from the 11th over.
Yasim Murtaza deserves praise for keeping both Kohli and Rahul quiet. The Indian batters have had no answers to his spin and lack of pace, and in the 12th over of the match, they could accumulate only five runs.
Mohammad Ghazanfar has put an end to KL Rahul's misery. The Indian opener scored 36 runs, but had to toil incredibly hard as he ended up facing 39 deliveries. Trying to work the ball towards the leg side, Rahul edged it onto Scott McKechnie's gloves.
Suryakumar Yadav is the new batter in for India, and right on cue, he is showing how to attack the spinners. Murtaza did not concede any boundary in his first three overs, but Yadav used the sweep shot to hit a couple of fours in the left-arm spinner's last over.
Suryakumar Yadav has donned the aggressor's hat here and a lot will depend on his performance. Courtesy of a boundary, India score seven runs in the 15th over.
India have finally got the 'one big over' they have chasing for a while. Aizaz Khan conceded 20 runs in his over, with Suryakumar Yadav doing most of the damage. India are now 134/2 with four overs left in the inning.
Brilliant over for Ehsan Khan and this has helped Hong Kong regain their composure. The veteran spinner concedes only four runs in the 17th over of the match, and India are now 138/1.
With the help of two fours and a six, Suryakumar Yadav has helped India breach the 150-run mark in the 18th over. 15 runs comes from Ayush Sharma's over as India are now 153/2.
He has taken his time, and did not always looked in control. Having said all of that, Virat Kohli has finally managed to bring up his 31st half-century in T20I cricket. India are 166/2 at the end of 19 overs.
Suryakumar Yadav has played a blinder of an inning. The 31-year-old smashed four huge sixes in the last over to take India's score to 192. Albeit the start was slow, India have managed to put up a total that should be defended comfortably.
Yadav remained unbeaten on 68 runs from 26 deliveries, which included six fours and as many maximums. Kohli, on the other hand, scored 59 runs from 44 deliveries.
India have started off well with the ball in their bid to defend a total of 192 runs. In the last delivery of the second over, Yasim Murtaza went for a pull shot but could not get the desired connection, giving a catch to Avesh Khan.
Babar Hayat smashed Hong Kong's first six off Bhuvneshwar Kumar's over, but barring that, played five dot balls. At the end of three overs, Hong Kong are 19/1.
This is a strange decision from Rohit Sharma, as Arshdeep Singh has been removed from the attack after scalping a wicket. However, Ravindra Jadeja has done a decent job in his first over, conceding only three runs.
Avesh Khan replaced Bhuvneshwar Kumar and conceded 12 runs in his first over. Babar Hayat is the batter India need to target, as the opener is playing big shots in every over.
This is a fielding masterclass from Ravindra Jadeja. In the last delivery of the sixth over, his rocket of a throw sends Hong Kong's skipper Nizakat Khan back in the pavilion. Hong Kong are 51/2 at the end of the powerplay.
Rohit Sharma introduced Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack after the end of the powerplay, and the leg-spinner conceded only three runs in his first over. Hong Kong are 54/2 at the end of 7 overs.
Spin from both ends, as Ravindra Jadeja has been called upon to compliment Chahal. He concedes only four runs in his second over as the required run rate keeps on rising at an alarming rate for Hong Kong.
Babar Hayat and Kinchit Shah have so far not been able to take on Yuzvendra Chahal. Only three runs comes from the leg-spinner's second over, as Hong Kong are 61/2 after 9 overs.
The spinners have helped India gain complete control of the game. Jadeja concedes only four runs in the 10th over, as Hong Kong now need to score 128 runs in the last ten overs.
Hayat and Shah have finally decided to take the attack to Chahal, but it is still not enough for them. Nine runs comes from the 11th over as Hong Kong are now 74/2.
Ravindra Jadeja has provided another breakthrough, but this time around, it will be reflected in his wickets tally. With the run rate pressure mounting, Hayat went for a slog but ended up giving a simple catch to Avesh Khan.
Avesh Khan proved to be expensive once again as he conceded 13 runs in the 13th over of the match. Hong Kong are now 91/3, needing 102 runs in the last seven overs of the match.
Arshdeep Singh was reintroduced in the attack to bowl the 14th over and he did a decent job to concede only seven runs. The victory seems to be only inches away as Hong Kong will need to score 95 runs in the last six overs.
After poor first couple of overs, Avesh Khan has finally opened his wickets tally by getting Aizaz Khan clean bowled. Hong Kong are 106/4 at the end of 15 overs, needing 97 runs in the last five overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal ended his fantastic spell by conceding only three runs in his final over. At the end of 16 overs, Hong Kong are 109/4.
Well, this was a pleasant surprise. With four overs left in the game and the outcome almost decided, Rohit Sharma called upon Virat Kohli to bowl the 17th over. The former skipper did a decent job, conceding only 6 runs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped his first wicket of the match in the 18th over, ending Kinchit Shah's fighting knock of 30 runs from 28 deliveries. Hong Kong are 119/5 with only two overs left in the match.
Avesh Khan would like to forget about this game as soon as he can, for he has conceded 53 runs in his four overs. Hong Kong's middle-order batters accumulate 21 runs from his last over to take Hong Kong's score to 140/5.
India defeated Hong Kong by 40 runs and subsequently qualified for the Super Four stage of Asia Cup 2022.
Arshdeep Singh concedes 12 runs in the last over, which helps Hong Kong to breach the 150-run mark. However, their resilience ends at 152/5 and India have now officially confirmed their participation in the next round as the table-toppers of Group A.
India's Super Four campaign will start against the second-placed team of Group A on 4 September, before they take on Afghanistan on 6 September. In their last Super Four fixture, Rohit Sharma's team will take on the second-placed team of Group B on 8 September.
Suryakumar Yadav has certainly been the star of today's victory, scoring unbeaten 68 runs in only 26 deliveries. As for India's bowling department, the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Yuzvendra Chahal did a commendable job, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar also looked in fine rhythm.