Asia Cup 2018: India scrape through opening match against Hong Kong
India beat Hong Kong by 26 runs in the fourth match of Asia Cup 2018 played on Tuesday. The Indian team batted first, scoring 285 for the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs. Opener Shikhar Dhawan played a magnificent innings of 127 runs. Set to chase the target of 286 runs, the Hong Kong team gave the Indian team a mighty scare scoring 259 runs for 8 wickets in 50 overs. Debutant Fast bowler Khalil Ahmed took 3 wickets to ensure the minnows don’t score an upset against the men in blue. In addition to Khalil, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal also took 3 wickets. Kuldeep Yadav also got two wickets in the account.
Great start by Hong Kong
The openers of Hong Kong team laid down a solid platform for their team. Openers Anshuman Rath and Nijakat Khan shared a record 174 runs for the first wicket. The first blow to Hong Kong was as captain Anshuman Rath was caught by Rohit Sharma at Kuldeep Yadav’s bowling having scored 73 runs.
Dhawan’s century helped India score 285 runs
Team India, lost 7 wickets in 50 overs, scored 285 runs and set a target of 286 for a win against Hong Kong. Shikhar shared an opening stand of 45 with skipper Rohit Sharma (23), 116 with Ambati Rayudu (60) for the second wicket and 79 runs with Dinesh Karthik (33) for the third wicket. The southpaw made 127 runs which propelled India to 285.
