Hong Kong China make Bangladesh work hard for win

Friday, 12 September 2025 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy carried Bangladesh to victory with a stand of 95

Nizakat Khan helped repair the Hong Kong innings with a 40-ball 42

ABU DHABI: In the end, it turned out to be an easy seven-wicket win for Bangladesh in their opening Group B match of the Asia Cup played at the Zayed Cricket Stadium here yesterday, even though they were made to work hard by a disciplined Hong Kong China side.

The 95-run partnership between Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy carried Bangladesh to victory. The pair concentrated on taking the singles and were content to play the waiting game, but all in all, it was a professional display by Bangladesh.

They lost their openers during the powerplay, but Das and Hridoy steadied the ship thereafter. After the initial struggle to time the ball, Das grew into his innings and eventually finished with a 39-ball 59 (6 fours, 1 six) that simply knocked the stuffing out of Hong Kong.

Earlier, Hong Kong finished with 143-7, a much better effort than what they managed the other night against Afghanistan when they were made 94-9. The intent was there right through the innings, even though that did not always translate to the outcome they wanted.

Hong Kong had contributions right through the order—some of them slow, some brisk, none very eye-catching. Two of their top four were among the runs and that helped build a solid foundation. Zeeshan Ali (30 off 34 balls) was more sedate than usual at the start, but did find the boundary a few times before perishing. Nizakat Khan was also scratchier than he would have wanted, but his 42 off 40 balls, coupled with Yasim Murtaza’s 28-run cameo off 19 balls, allowed Hong Kong to get past 140.

The eye-catching bit came from Tanzim Sakib, who bowled some cracking deliveries and was the pick of the bowlers with 2/21.

Litton Das took the Player of the Match award.

Scores:

n Hong Kong 143-7 (20) (Zeeshan Ali 30, Nizakat Khan 42, Yasmin Murtaza 28, Taskin Ahmed 2/38, Tanzim Hasan 2/21, Rishad Hossain 2/31)

nBangladesh 144-3 (17.4) (Litton Das 59, Towhid Hridoy 35*, Ateeq Iqbal 2/14)