After fighting hard in the Asia Cup Qualifier, 2018, Hong Kong (HK) has won the final against United Arab Emirates (UAE) and they have become the only team to qualify for the upcoming season of the tournament. The final of the qualifiers can’t be turned as anything less than a thriller that looked like a pendulum as it kept swinging to and fro but eventually, it’s Hong Kong reaped the rewards for holding their nerves.
Despite the fact that the match was reduced to 24 overs, thanks to the rain gods, UAE reached a competitive total of 177 after the slowish start to the innings. Barring Ashfaq Ahmed’s aggressive start, who played a knock of 79 runs in 51 balls with the help of 6 sixes and 9 fours, they were crawling before the rain showers. With the match resuming as a 24-over contest, the batsmen had to up the ante and luckily for UAE and they scored 111 runs in the 8.4 overs after resumption.
Aizaz Khan was the pick of the bowlers as he finished the innings with the spell of 5/28 followed by Nadeem Ahmed who also got 3 wickets and if not for the duo’s efforts, the total could have been much more. Tanwir Afzal also bowled a very tidy spell before the rain break.
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While chasing a good enough total of 177 in a rain-curtailed match, Hong Kong openers blazed away in the Powerplay, setting the platform for the run chase. UAE bowlers stormed back by triggering a mini-collapse but Christopher Carter and Ehsan Khan then stitched a partnership to get things back on track. Wickets kept falling but the 22nd over, bowled by Mohammad Naveed, saw two sixes being struck by Afzal and Scott McKechnie, almost sealed the game for Kong Kong.
Hong Kong won by 2 wickets and qualify for the Asia Cup 2018. They join India and Pakistan in the Group A.#UAEvHK #AsiaCupQualifiers #AsiaCupQualifiersFinal #AsiaCup2018
— AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) September 6, 2018
Another 15-20 more runs might well have done the trick for UAE, the irony for them will be the fact that they won’t be featuring in the tournament that’s being hosted by them. Hong Kong joins the group featuring India and Pakistan.
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🇭🇰 @CricketHKThe line-up for the men's Asia Cup 2018 is complete!
Who are you backing to go all the way? pic.twitter.com/cH8G6UZ6h2
— ICC (@ICC) September 6, 2018
Talking about the win, Hong Kong captain, Anshuman Rath said: “I’d like to thank UAE for playing such a tremendous game. Such matches, things can go either way. It did get away from us in the middle overs but we knew that we had the batting and that the pitch was a bit flat. I think the UAE batsmen after the rain delay batted really well. But we knew that it was a good wicket and that we had the batting firepower to chase it down. Luckily it happened.”
While, after facing a disappointing loss, the UAE skipper, Rohan Mustafa said: “I think it’s disappointing not to play the Asia Cup because it was an opportunity to show our class. Credit to Hong Kong, they played well throughout the tournament right after their first loss. They did really well. The weather was unexpected but these things happen. It was a really close game and we had our chances till the very end.”
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Aizaz Khan was rewarded with the Man of the Match award for his spell of 5/28 and a handy knock of 10 runs. He said, “Feeling very good, very happy and excited for the Asia Cup. We did really well, credit goes to the team. Pretty excited. We had a good start with the ball, I was just looking to bowl in good areas and it worked.”
How exciting was that finish? Even our Hong Kong women's team stopped training to watch it, what were you doing when Hong Kong qualified for the #AsiaCup2018 #UAEvHK #AsiaCupQualifiers #AsiaCupQualifiersFinal pic.twitter.com/nlK6GVYoy4
— Cricket Hong Kong, China (@CricketHK) September 6, 2018
Rath lifted the Asia Cup Qualifier trophy along with his mates pose for the photographs as they will now be on the plane to Dubai for the main stage of the tournament. Would be an extremely tough road ahead with the big boys around but this is a step forward nevertheless for them. UAE tried hard but just couldn’t get across the line and their fans would be disappointed.
Brief Scores:
UAE – 176 all-out (A Ahmed – 79; A Khan – 5/28, N Ahmed – 3/28 ) defeated Hong Kong – 179/8 (N Khan – 38, C Carter – 33; M Naveed 2/47) by 2 wickets.
Group Stage teams
Asia Cup 2018 full schedule
Group Stage
15 September – Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai)
16 September – Pakistan vs Hing Kong (Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai)
17 September – Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan (Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi)
18 September – India vs Hong Kong (Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai)
19 September – India vs Pakistan (Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai)
20 September – Bangladesh vs Afghanistan (Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi)
Super Four
21 September – Group A Winner vs Group B Runner-up (Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai)
21 September – Group B Winner vs Group A Runner-up (Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi)
23 September – Group A Winner vs Group A Runner-up (Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai)
23 September – Group B Winner vs Group B Runner-up (Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi)
25 September – Group A Winner vs Group B Winner (Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai)
26 September – Group A Runner-up vs Group B Runner-up (Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi)
Final
28 September – Asia Cup 2018 Final (Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai)
