Usman, Imam steer Pakistan to thrash hapless Hong Kong in Asia Cup
Former champions Pakistan made short work of minnows Hong Kong as they cruised to a comfortable eight-wicket win to begin their Asia Cup title campaign in style here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Pakistan got off to the comfortable start everyone expected from them, as they cruised to a comfortable eight-wicket win to begin their Asia Cup title campaign in style here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Playing in front of empty stands at the iconic venue, Pakistan’s bowlers made Hong Kong pay for their decision to bat first as they rattled the qualifiers, skittling them out for just 116 in 37 overs. It could have been even worse as Hong Kong were at one stage gasping at 44-5.
Usman Khan Shinwari (3-19) was the pick of the Pakistani bowlers as he ripped through the tail after spinner Shadab Khan (2-31) and the pace duo of Hasan Ali (2-19) and Fahim Ashraf (1-10) had brought Hong Kong down to their knees.
Pakistan could have put Hong Kong out of their misery much earlier but they took their time as the top-order opted to spend some time out there in brutally hot Dubai conditions.
A target of 117 was always going to be easy for Pakistan and that too in their adopted home. Young opener Imam-ul-Haq continued from where he left in the Zimbabwe series as he hit an unbeaten 50 to guide Pakistan to the victory target in 23.4 overs. That he took 69 balls to score his fifty shows that Pakistan were in no hurry to get to the finish line. His opening partner Fakhar Zaman, known for his big-hitting prowess, took 27 balls to score 24 that included just two fours and a six. The openers put on 41 from 49 balls. Babar Azam scored a 36-ball 33 before becoming Ehsan Khan’s second wicket of the match. Malik then hit the winning shot, hoisting one over mid-wicket.
Later, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed stressed that his team will have to raise its game in order to beat old rivals India whom they play next on Wednesday in Dubai.“We have time to adjust to this before the India game. It’s good to win, but to win against India, we have to be at our very best,” he said after the match.
Earlier, Hong Kong found run-scoring extremely difficult in the face of a full-strength Pakistan attack. Even on their best batsman Babar Hayat couldn’t cope. Having made just seven runs in 29 deliveries, he charged at Shadab first ball, got nowhere near the pitch of it and was stumped with time to spare.
The highlight for Anshy Rath’s men was a 53-run partnership between Kinchit Shah and Aizaz Khan that lifted them from 44 for 5. It upped the run rate, too - a glorious six off Shoaib Malik over extra cover was a particularly eye-catching highlight - and briefly had the Associate nation dreaming of a score that might challenge Pakistan, particularly if the surface took turn later on under the lights.
But Usman came back just in time to quash those dreams. Aizaz was cleaned up by a fast bowler’s dream of a delivery, bursting through the gap between bat and pad and taking off stump with it. Three balls later, Scott McKechnie was trapped plumb in front as he tried to flick and the over ended with Tanwir Afzal bowled for a golden duck. 97 for 5 became 97 for 8, and Pakistan were looking at a cakewalk again.
The only dampener for Pakistan was Usman limping off midway through the 33rd over with a possible toe injury. However, the left-armer allayed such fears saying that his toe bled a bit while bowling.
“My fitness is okay. There was just a little bit of bleeding in the toe. I’m happy with my bowling today and it’s given me lots of confidence. It’s fun to play with a lot of strong players on the bench, all of us are good bowlers, we compete against each other and hopefully we can keep going forward and trying hard,” said Usman, who was named man of the match. —with inputs from agencies
Scoreboard
PAKISTAN:
Imam-ul-Haq not out 50
Fakhar Zaman c McKechnie b Ehsan Khan 24
Babar Azam c McKechnie b Ehsan Khan 33
Shoaib Malik not out 9
EXTRAS (W-3, NB-1) 4
TOTAL (for two wkts, 24.4 overs) 120
FALL OF WKTS: 1-41, 2-93.
DID NOT BAT: Sarfraz Ahmed, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan Shinwari.
BOWLING: Tanwir Afzal 4-2-13-0 (1w); Ehsan Nawaz 4-0-27-0 (1nb, 1w); Aizaz Khan 3.4-0-19-0; Ehsan Khan 8-0-34-2 (1w); Nadeem Ahmed 4-0-27-0.RESULT: Pakistan won by eight wickets.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Usman Khan Shinwari.
HONG KONG:
Nizakat Khan run out 13
Anshuman Rath c Sarfraz b Faheem 19
Babar Hayat st Sarfraz b Shadab 7
C. Carter c Imam b Hasan 2
K.D. Shah c Shadab b Hasan 26
Ehsan Khan lbw b Shadab 0
Aizaz Khan b Usman 27
S.S. McKechnie lbw b Usman 0
Tanwir Afzal b Usman 0
Ehsan Nawaz run out 9
Nadeem Ahmed not out 9
EXTRAS (W-4) 4
TOTAL (all out, 37 overs) 116
FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-32, 3-39, 4-44, 5-44, 6-97, 7-97, 8-97, 9-99.
BOWLING: Mohammad Amir 7-1-20-0; Usman Khan Shinwari 7.3-1-19-3 (1w); Faheem Ashraf 4-0-10-1 (1w); Hasan Ali 7-0-19-2; Shadab Khan 8-1-31-2 (1w); Shoaib Malik 3-0-17-0; Fakhar Zaman 0.3-0-0-0.
UMPIRES: S. George (South Africa) and Ahmad Shah Pakteen (Afghanistan).
TV UMPIRE: R.J. Tucker (Australia).
MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe).
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