Sediqullah Atal and Azmatullah Omarzai made blazing fifties while the bowlers supported them with a clinical effort as Afghanistan tamed Hong Kong by 94 runs to start their Asia Cup campaign on a winning note on Tuesday.
Once Afghanistan survived early jitters through Atal (73 not out off 52 balls) and Omarzai (53 off 21 balls) to make 188 for six, the result was sealed. The Afghan bowlers, led by Fazalhaq Farooqi (2/16) and Gulbadin Naib (2/8), completed the formality, confining Hong Kong to 94 for nine.
Hong Kong’s chase never really took off as they lost four wickets inside the Power Play phase and were left reeling at 23 for four. The scoreboard pressure was evident on them, resulting in two needless run outs of Nizakat Khan and Kalhan Challu. Challu came out of the crease by a long way off the bowling of Omarzai, who hit the stumps before he could return to the crease.
Opener Anshuman Rath was Hong Kong’s biggest hope for making a sound start. But he got out on the second ball of the innings, playing a loose on-the-up drive outside off-stump off Farooqi to be caught behind by Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
Once the top four batsmen returned to the pavilion contributing almost nothing, the Hong Kong middle and late-order batsmen did not have the technical ability or the patience to battle it out against the experienced Afghanistan bowlers. Babar Hayat top-scored for Hong Kong with 39 off 43 balls, while the rest got out cheaply.
Earlier, Atal and Omarzai helped Afghanistan tide over their top-order struggle against pace to reach a healthy total. Atal and Omarzai judged the nature of the pitch to perfection, and played accordingly while waiting for their chances to free their arms. Left-handed opener Atal began with a slew of boundaries against the new ball in the Power Play segment once Afghanistan opted to bat first, but soon settled into a calmer disposition.
He got his fifty, his third in T20Is, in 41 balls, and between the 5th and 13th over, there was only one big shot — a pull off off-spinner Kinchit Shah over mid-wicket for a six. Shah deserved a special mention for tying up the usually hard-hitting Afghan batsmen with a series of under-cutters, which they failed to read.
Mohammad Nabi (33 off 26 balls) took a few balls to find his range, but once he got into the rhythm, he hammered pacer Aizaz Khan for a four and six in successive balls. Nabi however fell to Shah while trying to clear the long-off fielder. Nizakat Khan took a simple catch to end the promising 51-run stand for the third wicket, and soon the Afghans were struggling at 95 for four after 13 overs. However, Atal and Omarzai steadied the innings with an 82-run stand for the fifth wicket.
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