🏏Asia Cup 🏆2022: Pakistan vs Hong Kong🏏

Asia Cup 2022 - Match 6 on 02/09/2022 in Sharjah

Group A: Pakistan vs Hong Kong

Winner goes through, loser goes out as Hong Kong take on Pakistan

We have what we often cry out for, a T20I outside the World Cup with something on the line

It still feels like early days in the Asia Cup, but one of Hong Kong or Pakistan will see their tournament draw to a close on Friday. The format for the first round means one defeat can place any side under instant pressure. With India having pulled clear through wins over both opponents, there is clarity to the mission for both the Associate and the Full Member, the giants and the would-be giant killers.

There may be limited cricketing or historical evidence to suggest Hong Kong could mount a serious challenge to a side with Pakistan's firepower, but they will be well aware a knockout in the shortest format presents a golden opportunity to spring an upset. Against India, it was the bowling that let them down, even if a spirited batting performance demonstrated the threat the side can pose. Babar Hayat, Zeeshan Ali and Scott McKechnie provided the big hitting, while Ayush Shukla, Ehsan Khan and Yasim Murtaza kept things tight, allowing just 82 runs in their 12 combined overs.

Pakistan, however, might feel this game plays into their hands to some extent. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan do not come flying out of the blocks, but the template they follow was similar to one that India executed against Hong Kong on Wednesday. They opened their innings conservatively, before the middle order put the bowlers to the sword, smashing 98 in the final seven overs. And while India's approach may have been a game plan tailored to the opposition they were facing, scoring their big runs in the final overs is how Pakistan play anyway against nearly all opposition.

And so we have what we often cry out for, a T20I outside the World Cup with something on the line. It might, on paper, be a mismatch, but across the tableau of relatively context-free bilateral T20Is, it is rare to find a game with as much riding on it as Pakistan against Hong Kong on Friday. It's a game Hong Kong will savour, but they will tell themselves it might just be one they could also win.

Pakistan:

Tactics and match-ups: With the Asia Cup pitches as they are, runs against the hard new ball become important. And when it comes to setting targets in the UAE, the runs at the top are twice as valuable. Since 2021, Babar Azam strikes at only 113 inside the PowerPlay. Rizwan at 123 fares only slightly better. Hong Kong will want to exploit this further.

Probable XI: Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah/Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani

Hong Kong

Tactics and match-ups: Against India, Hong Kong's spinners (1-72 in 10 overs) outbowled their pace counterparts (1-119 in 10 overs), so we can expect the likes of Ehsan Khan and Yasim Murtaza to bowl at where Pakistan's strength lies, which is at the top. Hong Kong's pacers could be a soft target for Pakistan's batters, having leaked runs at an economy of almost 10 in Asia Cup (including qualifiers) as compared to spin that's gone at only 6.42.

Probable XI: Nizakat Khan (C), Yasim Murtaza, Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, Aizaz Khan, Zeeshan Ali, Scott McKechnie (wk), Haroon Arshad, Ehsan Khan, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Ayush Shukla

Weather Forecast: The hot and humid conditions of Dubai and Sharjah are taking a toll on the players. The conditions are expected to remain the same throughout the tournament. Pakistan vs Hong Kong game starts at 6 pm local time on Friday, September 2. The temperature in the evening is expected to be around 31 degrees with humidity as high as 70 per cent. There is no chance of any rain.

Pitch Report: Sharjah has hosted 26 T20Is so far and only one game so far in this Asia Cup campaign where Afghanistan chased down a score close to 130. A score between 150 to 160 will be a challenging score at that venue given there is much more help for spinners and the bigger dimensions of the ground.

Did you know?

- There are at least five Pakistan-born players in the Hong Kong squad

- Naseem Shah has picked 21 wickets in his 14 T20s this year, with a best of 5 for 20, but has conceded runs at 8.14. He was the leading wicket taker for Quetta Gladiators in PSL 2022

What they said

"We'll have a look at our death bowling. We will improve." - Nizakat Khan

Stats and trivia

Pakistan are yet to win a T20I in 2022. The two games they played in the format - against India and Australia - have ended in defeat

Haris Rauf is five wickets shy of matching Shaheen Afridi's T20I tally of 47. Should he get there against Hong Kong, it will have taken him five fewer innings than Shaheen to get there.

Thank you, Raji, for the thread and for tagging me. 🤗

In the spotlight

At his best, Khushdil Shah is perhaps Pakistan's most powerful hitter of the ball, but in Pakistan's colours in T20I cricket, he has never come close to hitting those heights. In the game against India, which saw a limp performance from almost every Pakistan batter, Khushdil's innings - a timid 2 off 7 balls - still stood out for its total lack of intent. Perhaps a game against Hong Kong, whose bowlers don't quite offer the same threat as India's is just what he needs to produce a statement innings.

Hong Kong vice-captain Kinchit Shah has had a memorable time of late. The allrounder was in decent form at the Asia Cup qualifiers and the Cricket World Cup Challenge Group, striking a half-century against Uganda and 139 against Bermuda, and picking up a four-wicket haul against Kenya. He was steady, if not quite explosive, with the bat against India, scoring 30 in 28 balls. Off the field too, things have been good. After the game against India, he proposed to his partner. A win against Pakistan to go through to the next stage would cap a blissful few days for Kinchit, both personal and professional.

Pakistan suffered a narrow five-wicket defeat against archrival India in its Asia Cup opener and has lost both its T20I matches in 2022. Meanwhile, Hong Kong put up a spirited fight against India in its last game and is coming off a dominant showing in the Asia Cup Qualifiers, where it won all its three matches.

Thanks for the tag Raji🤗

Whoever loses today will be out of the tournament. Yesterday, 2018 runner-ups Bangladesh made an unexpected exit after losing against Sri Lanka in the final over.

Pakistan also lost their last match against India by a close margin and would be hoping to come back in today's match.