Abu Dhabi, Sep 11 (IANS) Despite having sluggish starts, Nizakat Khan and Zeeshan Ali hit 42 ad 30 respectively as Hong Kong posted 143’7 in their allotted 20 overs against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup Group B clash at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

Inserted into batting first, Hong Kong struggled to get going as Bangladesh kept thing s in control in the powerplay. Nizakat and Zeeshan eventually stitched a 41-run stand for the third wicket, which ensured Hong Kong avoided a repeat of their collapse against Afghanistan.

Captain Yasim Murtaza injected momentum with a brisk 28 off 19 balls, but a flurry of wickets in the death overs curtailed Hong Kong’s push for a big finishing flourish. For Bangladesh, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rishad Hossain and Taskin Ahmed took two wickets each.

Taskin got the first wicket for Bangladesh when his fullish ball on off stump shaped away to take Anshuman Rath’s edge on an attempted drive. The appeal was initially turned down, but Bangladesh got the decision in their favour on review, as UltraEdge confirmed a nick, as Rath was caught behind for the second consecutive time.

Tanzim was next to strike as he castled Babar Hayat with a cracking yorker, as Hong Kong ended power-play at 34/2. Zeeshan Ali struggled to get going – amassing only eight runs in 22 balls, before hitting two fours and a six off Mahedi and Rishad.

But after drinks break, Tanzim struck when he got a back of the length ball to rush onto Zeeshan and the thick outside edge was caught by a backtracking Mustafizur Rahman to fall for a 34-ball 30.

Murtaza injected some momentum into Hong Kong’s innings by hammering Rishad down the ground for four, before pulling and smacking Tanzim and Mahedi for six each. He and Nizakat Khan took a four each off Taskin, before a mix-up saw Murtaza being run-out for a 19-ball 28.

Nizakat continued to push Hong Kong’s charge by slicing Mustafizur for four, before launching Rishad over long-off for six. But in a bid to get another maximum off Rishad, Nizakat holed out to long-on for a 40-ball 42. From there, Kinchit Shah and Aizaz Khan were out in quick succession, as Hong Kong fell short of reaching 150-mark.

Brief Scores: Hong Kong 143/7 (Nizakat Khan 42, Zeeshan Ali 30; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 2-21, Rishad Hossain 2-31) against Bangladesh

–IANS

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