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Afghanistan vs Hong Kong, 1st Match, Group B

Afghanistan won by 94 runs
AFG
188/6(20)
HK
94/9(20)
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
That's it from all of us. Tomorrow we have India taking on UAE. We will be there for it nice and early. Do join us then. For now sleep tight and take care. Bye bye.
Rashid Khan: Was a great game. Good to put total on the board. Wickets early on is the key for us. We had the same issue in the last series. That's one area we need to improve. Batting in the death overs was a great effort. Specially, Omarzai. We have good spinners. It puts pressure on the opposition. When you put runs on the board, batters will take risks and we have a chance to pick wickets. We will try to have a good record while chasing as well. Tough ask to see what is the playing XI. To keep Mujeeb out, it was a tough call. You sometimes look for combinations. The good thing is I have options and that makes it easier for me.
Yasim Murtaza: Just feels like dream come true (On playing the Asia Cup). It is one of the biggest tournament of Asia. To be honest, we weren't expecting that kind of total. I was expecting 150. Credit to Omarzai, he changed the game. Babar Hayat with the bat and the spinners were positives from the game.
Azmatullah Omarzai, Player of the Match: Very tough batting in the lower order. It is all about belief. The captain and coach have belief in me. Was trying to hit it straight. We lost early wickets. I was speaking to Atal that we will go for boundaries after the 16th over. When I get the ball, I feel am a proper bowler. When I get to bat, I feel am a proper batter (smiles).
Stats by Roshan Gede
Biggest victory margins in Men’s T20 Asia Cup
155 runs - PAK vs HK, Sharjah, 2022
101 runs - IND vs AFG, Dubai, 2022
94 runs - AFG vs HK, Abu Dhabi, 2025
71 runs - UAE vs OMAN, Mirpur, 2016
66 runs - AFG vs Hong Kong, Mirpur, 2016
Most catches dropped in a Men’s T20I since 2020
8 - Australia vs Scotland, Gros Islet, 2024
8 - West Indies vs Australia, Kingston, 2025
8 - Afghanistan vs Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, 2025
*where ball-by-ball data available
Hong Kong have had 34 run-out dismissals in T20Is since 2024, the highest among the 103 teams and 12 clear of the next most. 29 of those have been of players batting in the top seven, including two today.
22:26 Local Time, 18:26 GMT, 23:56 IST: A good workout for Afghanistan and they begin their campaign with a big win. As was expected of them. Chasing 189, HKC were never in the game and only Hayat impressed with a few meaty sixes. Afghanistan were sloppy early on as they dropped two catches but they were never in danger of being threatened by HKC. Afghanistan treated this game as a good practice for their bowlers and they used 7 of them. Only Rashid and Noor completed their quota with the others chipping in. A thumping win for Afghanistan and a good learning experience for HKC. Stay tuned for the post-match stuff...
20
0 W 0 0 1 0 (1 runs)
HK 94-9
Ayush Shukla
1(2)
Ateeq Iqbal
1(3)
Fazalhaq Farooqi
3-0-16-2
19.6
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Ayush Shukla, no run, short outside off, Ayush Shukla slashes and misses. Afghanistan win by 94 runs and it was a walk in the park
19.5
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Ateeq Iqbal, 1 run, slower-ball on a length on middle, Ateeq Iqbal makes room and dabs it down to third man
19.4
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Ateeq Iqbal, no run, seam-up and short of length just outside off, Ateeq Iqbal makes room to slash and the extra bounce beats the bat
19.3
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Ateeq Iqbal, no run, slower-ball on a length around off, Ateeq Iqbal makes room and dabs that to backward point. Fazalhaq Farooqi came round the wicket there
Ateeq Iqbal, right handed bat, comes to the crease
19.2
W
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Ehsan Khan, out Caught&Bowled!! Chipped back and it's a low catch in front of him. Fazalhaq Farooqi makes no mistake. A slower-ball on a length around leg-stump, Ehsan Khan steps out and checks his punch, Farooqi bends low to take a simple catch. Ehsan Khan c and b Fazalhaq Farooqi 6(11)
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Ehsan Khan, THATS OUT!! Caught&Bowled!!
19.1
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Ehsan Khan, no run, slower-ball off-cutter on a length on off, Ehsan Khan goes on the back foot and taps it back to Fazalhaq Farooqi
Fazalhaq Farooqi [2.0-0-15-1] is back into the attack
19
0 1 0 Wd W 1 1 (4 runs)
HK 93-8
Ehsan Khan
6(9)
Ayush Shukla
1(1)
Gulbadin Naib
3-0-8-2
18.6
Gulbadin to Ehsan Khan, 1 run, big shape back in on that low full-toss on off, Ehsan Khan walks into the flick and it's a thick inside-edge on the flick, gets it down to deep backward square-leg. Gulbadin is appealing for LBW but that clearly hit the bat
18.5
Gulbadin to Ayush Shukla, 1 run, full and shapes back into off, Ayush Shukla gets forward to drive to long-on, mistimed that