India down fighting Hong Kong
DUBAI:Shikhar Dhawan shook off his poor Test run in England with a century but India toiled against Hong Kong to win their opening Asia Cup Group A clash by 26 runs on Tuesday night.
India, asked to bat, looked on course after scoring 285/7 on a slow pitch but Hong Kong openers Nizakat Khan and skipper Anshuman Rath raised prospects of a mighty upset after raising a 174-run partnership.
The Pakistan-born Nizakat (92 – 115 b) and Indian origin Anshuman (73) were finally separated when chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav had the skipper caught. Debutant left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed trapped Nizakat leg before to make it 175/2 before the Indian bowlers took control in the death overs.
GOOD START
Khaleel gave a good first impression, taking 3/48 while Hong Kong ended on 259/8. Hong Kong’s elimination eases some tension in the India-Pakistan tie.
Dhawan struck 127 (120b, 15x4, 2x6) after skipper Rohit Sharma (23) fell and finally miscued a catch to point in the 41st over. He added 116 runs for the second wicket with Ambati Rayudu (60 – 70b, 3x4, 2x6), a key prospect in the search for middle-order batsmen ahead of the 2019 World Cup. MS Dhoni could not cash in as off-spinner Ehsan Khan had him caught behind for a third-ball duck. Kedar Jadhav hit 28 not out (27b, 1x6) to push the score in the final overs.
With Bumrah rested, India bowlers struggled until the 35th over when Kuldeep struck. Khaleel Ahmed then bowled cross-seam deliveries to remove Nizakat and Christopher Carter (3), though Hong Kong fought till the end with Ehsan Khan taking two wickets and scoring 22.