bc magazine

Bangladesh beat Hong Kong 7 wickets (with 14 balls remaining) in the Men’s T20 Asia Cup.

Hong Kong mustered a total of 143 for 7 in 20 overs against Bangladesh, after being inserted by Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi. They started shakily, with early wickets and a sluggish start for Zeeshan Ali (30) and Nizakat Khan (42) keeping Bangladesh in control.

But as the Zeeshan-Nizakat partnership grew, so did their range of strokes. Their 41-run stand for the third wicket ensured their batting didn’t collapse like it did in the game against Afghanistan. Hong Kong captain Yasim Murtaza blazed away to a 19-ball 28, but a flurry of late wickets denied Hong Kong a late flourish.

As Bangladesh’s players walked off the field, they exchanged high-fives for their effort in the first innings. Tanzim Hasan Sakib (2 for 21) bowled in the early 140kph range in his first spell, and accounted for Babar Hayat (14) and Zeeshan. Hayat was cleaned up by a swinging ball that started on middle and ended up going past his outside edge, while Zeeshan fell to a sharp delivery that hit the splice of the bat and popped up to cover.

Taskin Ahmed was expensive but got the early breakthrough by dismissing Anshy Rath. He then removed Aizaz Khan in the final over.

Rishad Hossain, the legspinner, was introduced after the powerplay, but Hong Kong countered him with sweeps and reverse sweeps. He finally got among the wickets in 19th over, his last over of the evening, when he had Nizakat caught at long-on. Next ball, he trapped Kinchit Shah lbw.

Hong Kong scored 54 runs off the last six overs to get to a respectable total.

Men’s T20 Asia Cup
Date: 9-28 September 2025
Venue: Abu Dhabi, Dubai

Scorecards: Cricinfo

Hong Kong slumped to a 94-run defeat against Afghanistan in their opening game of the Men’s T20 Asia Cup.

There was a contest between man and nature to see who was hotter and in the end, try as the elements could, they couldn’t match Azmatullah Omarzai‘s fire. Even in 41°C heat, he burned brighter, scoring Afghanistan‘s fastest T20I fifty and just kept going from there.

Omarzai was responsible for one of two blink-and-you’ll-miss-it run-outs, which, coming on the back of a Hong Kong fielding performance that included three dropped catches, was cricket working a little too hard to highlight the gulf between the two sides. Full Member Afghanistan made 188 for 6. It was 94 too many for their Associate nation opposition.

Sediqullah Atal looked a real good player. Stood nice and tall in his set-up, seemed competent playing shots off both front foot and the back foot, and crucially, he was able to cope with the lack of pace in Abu Dhabi. He is only 24, but already showing signs of what players more experienced than him are known for. The bit between the ears. Atal was 26 off 17 with five fours at the end of the powerplay when the other end had contributed only 14 off 19 balls with one six.

Hong Kong slowed Atal down with spin but were never able to capitalise on the pressure they created. Yasim Murtaza gave him two lives – dropping him on 4 off 3 in the first over, then on 46 off 38 off his own bowling and finally had to watch Ehsan Khan put down a clanger just after Atal had raised his third T20I fifty. A man who should’ve been dismissed in the first over batted through the innings to score 73 off 52.

Afghanistan were 119 for 4 after 16 overs. Hong Kong’s spinners – Murtaza in particular – provided a challenge that is rarely seen in modern T20 cricket. He pulled pace off the ball, going as low as 70kph at times to deny scoring opportunities. Kinchit Shah, bowling from the other end, got the wickets. The five overs they bowled between the 10th and the 14th yielded two wickets for just 24 runs.

As good as that period was for Hong Kong, it also brought Omarzai to the crease and he was so game aware. The fast bowlers returned in the 17th over and it was go time. The next 18 balls yielded 60 runs. Omarzai went 6, 6, 6 and 4 against Ayush Shukla to bring up his half-century off just 20 deliveries. From the simple, clear-the-front-leg slog to the cheeky ramp past the keeper, the Afghanistan allrounder showed impressive range on a difficult batting pitch.

Hong Kong’s mishaps continued with bat in hand as well. They gave up a wicket for no reason – and one run on the board – when Anshuman Rath was ruled caught behind but replays showed several inches of daylight between bat and ball. Zeeshan Ali, the non-striker, had seemingly persuaded Rath from challenging umpire Virender Sharma’s decision. Then they had to watch as Rashid Khan ran out Nizakat Khan for 0 off 0 balls because he took too long to realise there was no run off a Babar Hayat hit to cover.

Two overs – and two dropped catches later, apparently Afghanistan were happy to give themselves a handicap – Azmatullah had Kalhan Challu run-out off his own bowling when the batter strayed out of his crease after pushing the ball down the pitch. The Hong Kong captain had high hopes for Challu at the toss, instead his wicket for 4 off 8 was a cruel reminder of the quality of cricket at this level.

Hong Kong went joint-second for most wickets (four) lost by a team in the powerplay in the men’s T20 Asia Cup. Only two of their batters got to double-digits. None of them managed to score at a run a ball. Their focus at 63 for 6 had shifted to playing the overs out and they did that to finish on 94 for 9.

Men’s T20 Asia Cup
Date: 9-28 September 2025
Venue: Abu Dhabi, Dubai

Scorecards and additional reporting: Cricinfo