After winning a nail-biter against Pakistan, India went head to head against Hong Kong for a chance to qualify for the Super 4. The Men in Blue won the match by 40 runs on the back of a great all-round performance.
After winning the toss, Hong Kong chose to bowl first and invited India to put runs on the board. The decision proved to be an incorrect one as India put forth a humongous 192/2 on the board. The last match’s hero, Hardik Pandya was given a rest for this match allowing for Rishabh Pant to be included in the playing XI.
The Indian openers gave a good start albeit a slow one in their second match. Rohit Sharma with two boundaries and one six climbed to 21 but could not go further as he was dismissed while trying for a maximum. KL Rahul who is making his comeback after months of being out with an injury looked rusty and played a slow inning of 36 off of 39 deliveries.
The next two batters Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav took charge of the Indian innings and played some sensational shots in 98 runs partnership. Kohli with 59 off of 44 and Suryakumar with an outrageous 68 off of 26 balls smacked Hong Kong bowlers all around the ground to take India to the highest total of this tournament.
Coming onto chase the target, Hong Kong got off poorly as they lost their first wicket at just 12 runs. Captain Nizakat Khan was the second to depart after being run out by Ravindra Jadeja in the sixth over. Babar Hayat has been Hong Kong’s best batter in the qualifying stages and he came good with the bat again as he played a knock of 41 off of 35 balls with three fours and two sixes.
Kinchit Shah also produced a steady inning of 30 off of 28 deliveries to halt the fall of wickets. 192 however proved a target too far for the minnows as they could only reach 152/5 and lost by 40 runs in the process.
Interestingly, Virat Kohli also bowled an over in this match.
Let’s look at how Twitter reacted to India’s win against Hong Kong:
INDIA WINNN! ???
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) August 31, 2022
Death. Taxes. Ravindra Jadeja hitting the stumps
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) August 31, 2022
#INDvHK
Congratulations hongkong best of luck for next match please let everyone know your presence— harish (@harishgupta2017) August 31, 2022
Congratulations Team India ?? ? ? pic.twitter.com/jy005kf8U0
— ?????? $??_? (@realpravi3537) August 31, 2022
India beat Hong Kong by 40 runs and India now into the Super 4 and becomes second team to qualify for Super 4. Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli are the stars of this win for India.
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) August 31, 2022
Rohit Sharma becomes the second most successful captain of India in T20I history.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 31, 2022
India qualify to the Super Four phase of #AsiaCup2022 with a convincing win ??#INDvHK | ? Scorecard: https://t.co/4PnOYdeR6H pic.twitter.com/RXzWwukkbF
— ICC (@ICC) August 31, 2022
Hardik,SKY batting in a different zone!
Indian cricket so fortunate that both have hit these highs together. Sensational stuff! ??????— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) August 31, 2022
Great fight from Hong Kong.#India #HongKong #INDvsHK #RohitSharma #AsiaCup #Sky11 pic.twitter.com/6nkmwepfFb
— Sky11 (@sky11official) August 31, 2022
The win percentage of Rohit Sharma as a captain in T20I is 83.78
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 31, 2022
Takeaways from today’s game:
– Hong Kong fully deserve to be there.
– India’s new approach doesn’t work with KL Rahul at the top.
– Tougher tests to come, but overall, India looking in good shape.
– Kohli…that’s it ?
– Avesh looks out of his depth. #INDvHK ?????— Nikesh Rughani (@NikeshRughani) August 31, 2022
Virat Amazing Bowling Against Hongkong.
And Best performance in Match. 44 Balls 59 Runs
That's Terrific ? Man. https://t.co/r105RIeDh8— Jack&Amul (@jack_amul) August 31, 2022
