Bangladesh and Hong Kong will play 3rd game of the ongoing Asia Cup at Abu Dhabi on 11th September.
Match Preview:
Bangladesh is riding high after winning three straight Twenty20 International series going into the Asia Cup. They play Hong Kong in Group B in Abu Dhabi to start their campaign. They will depend on a strong pace attack and a batting lineup that has begun to realize how effective hitting sixes can be.
However, Bangladesh will continue to be cautious of their opponents, who beat them by two wickets in Chittagong during the 2014 T20 World Cup. In addition to having two survivors from that historic triumph, Hong Kong has only participated in 11 international games against Full Member teams since.
In their opening match against Afghanistan on Tuesday, Hong Kong’s lack of experience against elite teams was evident. Before the spinners Ehsan Khan, Yasim Murtaza, and Kinchit Shah briefly pulled things back, their medium pacers went for plenty, but they were unable to prevent Afghanistan from reaching 188.
Hong Kong’s batting response, which saw them score just 94 for 9 in 20 overs, was even more disappointing. Babar Hayat had to exercise self-control because only one of their top six players scored in double figures, and wickets were falling at the other end.
Bangladesh, who have been reliable in this phase lately, will be eager to take wickets in the first ten overs. Offspinner Mahedi Hasan has established himself as a powerplay bowler, but Taskin Ahmed will be the leader of the fast-bowling group. Tanzim Hasan Sakib is probably going to be with Mustafizur Rahman as he shores up the final overs. For a few overs up front, they will also be eager to use legspinner Rishad Hossain.
Bangladesh will also likely be a little more aggressive on a good batting track. Over the past 18 months, they have improved their big-hitting ability, especially in the powerplay with openers Tanzid Hasan and Parvez Hossain Emon. The team is relying on Jaker Ali and Shamim Hossain as their death-overs hitters.
Playing XI:
Bangladesh XI: 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Parvez Hossain Emon, 3 Litton Das (capt & wk), 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Shamim Hossain, 6 Jaker Ali, 7 Mahedi Hasan, 8 Tanzim Hasan, 9 Rishad Hossain, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur Rahman.
Hong Kong XI: 1 Zeeshan Ali (wk), 2 Anushman Rath, 3 Babar Hayat, 4 Nizakat Khan, 5 Kalhan Challu, 6 Kinchit Shah, 7 Yasim Murtaza (capt), 8 Aizaz Khan, 9 Ayush Shukla, 10 Ateeq Iqbal, 11 Ehsan Khan.
Pitch and weather report:
Afghanistan set Hong Kong a target of 189, and Abu Dhabi delivered with a fairly high-scoring start. Even though Afghanistan chose to bat and had the attack to defend their total, Dew also arrived fairly early. After the game begins, the temperature won’t significantly drop from its high of nearly 40 degrees Celsius during the day.
Head-to-head record:
Bangladesh and Hong Kong have faced each other in 1 match in T20. Out of these 1 game, Bangladesh have won 0 whereas Hong Kong have come out victorious on 1 occasion .
Prediction:
Bangladesh are favourites to win.
Where to Watch:
India: Sony Liv app and website (sonyliv.com).
Pakistan: Tamasha and Myco
Sri Lanka: Dialog ViU app
Bangladesh: Toffee and Tapmad.
UAE and Mena region: StarzPlay
Afghanistan: Toffee app and websites
