Abu Dhabi, Sep 9 (IANS) Half-centuries from Sediqullah Atal and Azmatullah Omarzai guided Afghanistan to 188/6 in 20 overs against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup opener at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Opting to bat first, Afghanistan opener Sediqullah Atal started the team’s campaign with a boundary on the first ball of the match. He followed it with a back-to-back fours off Ayush Shukla to wrap the opening over.

Atal continued his free-flowing approach in Ateeq Iqbal’s next over before Rahmanullah Gurbaz struck the Shukla for a maximum just before the pacer dismissed him on the next ball. Ibrahim Zadran, who came to bat at No. 3, had a negligible impact on the scoreboard and was removed by Iqbal in the fourth over.

Two early wickets impacted the scoring rate, but Atal and Mohammad Nabi stitched a vital partnership in the middle and kept the scoreboard moving as Afghanistan reached 41/2 at the end of the powerplay.

Nabi took a special liking towards pacer Aizaz Khan and struck him for a four and a six in his first over of the spell. In his next over, Nabi smashed Khan for two more boundaries as Afghanistan reached 77/2 at the halfway mark.

Spinner Kinchit Shah finally broke the 51-run partnership in the 11th over, with Nabi handing a catch to long-off and departing after scoring 33. Gulbadin Naib, who struck the Shah for a six over deep mid-wicket, failed to carry the momentum and was dismissed by the spinner in the 13th over to put pressure on Afghanistan. Azmatullah Omarzai joined Atal in the middle.

Meanwhile, Atal completed his well-deserved and disciplined half-century in 41 balls as Afghanistan reached 110/4 after 15 overs.

In the death overs, Atal and Azmatullah pushed the run rate to the roof as the duo only dealt in boundaries to push the total tawards 200. Atal hit Iqbal for consecutive sixes after Azmatullah opened the over with a boundary.

In the penultimate over of the innings, Azmatullah smashed Shukla for three successive maximums and a four to complete his maiden T20I fifty in just 20 balls, also the fastest for Afghanistan. On the next ball, he was dismissed by the pacer to end with the figures of 2-54 from his four overs.

Afghanistan only added nine runs in the final over of the innings to finish for 188/6 in 20 overs as Atal remained unbeaten on 73 in 52 balls, including three sixes and six fours.

Despite the spirited bowling effort from Hong Kong, the sloppy fielding led them down. The team dropped multiple catches as Afghanistan reaped the benefit of it.

For Hong Kong, Kinchit Shah was the pick of the bowlers with 2-24 in his three overs.

Brief Scores: Afghanistan 188/6 in 20 overs (Sediqullah Atal 73, Azmatullah Omarzai 53, Mohammad Nabi 33; Kinchit Shah 2-24, Ayush Shukla 2-54) against Hong Kong.

—IANS

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