Six-time Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka are back in action after a day’s rest as they will face Hong Kong in the second match of the day at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. It is the 8th match of the tournament and is a crucial Group B clash. Sri Lanka comes into this game with an impressive win over Bangladesh while Hong Kong showed positives but have lost both their fixtures are playing their farewell game tonight.
Charith Asalanka led Sri Lanka have done well in Zimbabwe and by winning against Bangladesh on Saturday night by a considerable margin has done themselves a favour. With pedigree in their ranks, they will start this match against Hong Kong as favourites. Yasim Murtaza Hong Kong led side will try to put in the fight but may not be enough against this Sri Lankan side.
Overview
This is a Group B clash and is known as the Group of Death in this tournament with Bangladesh and Afghanistan being a part of this group. Sri Lanka under Asalanka continued their form from Zimbabwe and started the competition on a high, defeating their arch rivals Bangladesh by six wickets.
Batting first, the Lankan seamers Nuwan Thushara and Dushmantha Chameera breathed fire with the new ball as both returned with wickets maidens in the first two overs of the innings. Sri Lanka kept a stranglehold on the Bangla Tigers, reducing them to 53/5 at the stroke of Drinks. However, Sri Lanka, especially Matheesha Pathirana weren’t at their best in the second half of the innings as they allowed Bangladesh to get to a respectable 139/5 in 20 overs.
Wanindu Hasaranga, on his return to the international cricket, was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka bagging two wickets, while Thushara and Chameera picked up one wicket apiece. The remaining wicket came through a run out with Kamil Mishara nailing a direct hit from the deep midwicket region.
Sri Lanka lost Kusal Mendis early on in the run chase. Pathum Nissanka continued his good form and scored a half-century. He added a match-defining and winning 95-run second wicket partnership with Mishara, who was struggling until he was dropped on 1. Mishara then stood tall, showing his class and remained unbeaten on 46, whereas Nissanka threw his wicket away after his half century. Kusal Perera and Dasun Shanaka failed as the Lankan Lions lost a couple of quick wickets, but skipper Charith Asalanka walked out to finish the game inside 15 overs.
Depending on conditions, Sri Lanka might think of bringing in an extra spinner in place of Pathirana and in that scenario, Maheesh Theekshana might sneak into the playing XI.
Hong Kong, on the other hand, will play their last group game tonight as they are all but out of the competition unless they come up with something that will not only stun the Island Nation but also the entire world. Afghanistan brutally defeated Hong Kong in the curtain raiser by 94 runs. Following this, the Yasim Murtaza-led team was on the receiving end against Bangladesh, who thrashed Hong Kong by seven wickets.
Asked to bat first, Hong Kong managed to reach a respectable total of 143/7 in 20 overs. Although they didn’t have a great start, the partnership between Zeeshan Ali and Nizakat Khan steadied the ship, with the former scoring 30 off 34 balls and the latter top-scoring with 42 off 40 balls. Skipper Murtaza hit a 19-ball 28 as Hong Kong were going at a decent pace until the 17th over. They failed to finish things well as they lost wickets at regular intervals towards the end.
Ayush Shukla and Ateeq Iqbal took care of the Bangla openers below their respective 20s, but they failed to stop the Bangladesh skipper Litton Das as he took the game away from Hong Kong alongside Towhid Hridoy. Iqbal later returned to remove Litton, but it was too late to change the fate of the game.
Both these sides have never met in T20Is before and it is their first meeting ever. We will have to wait and see as to whether Hong Kong can pull off a monumental upset or will Sri Lanka dominate proceedings and make it 2 wins out of 2.
Pitch and Weather Report
The pitch in Dubai assists the spinners more than the pacers. There will be lateral movement early on, but spinners dominate proceedings in the middle overs. This is an evening game and there is high probability of dew in Dubai. All the games in Dubai has seen low scores and so a score of around 150-160 could well be competitive on this pitch. The captain winning the toss should chase given the track record in Dubai.
The weather in Dubai is expected to be hot and humid. Temperatures will cool down a touch in the evening. The comfort level will be there, but the players will have to struggle with humidity. Temperatures will be around 39 degrees Celsius. It will cool down and high humidity could mean the dew factor coming into play once again.
Probable/Predicted Playing XIs of both sides
Here we will predict the probable playing XIs of both the sides.
Sri Lanka XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kamil Mishara, Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka (c), Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Nuwan Thushara.
Hong Kong XI: Zeeshan Ali (wk), Anshuman Rath, Babar Hayat, Nizakat Khan, Kalhan Marc Challu, Kinchit Shah, Yasim Murtaza (c), Aizaz Khan, Ehsan Khan, Ayush Shukla, Ateeq Iqbal.
Key Players to watch out for in this match
Pathum Nissanka: Pathum Nissanka is Sri Lanka’s Mr. Dependable. He has been consistent throughout and guiding the innings forward at the top. He had a stellar series in Zimbabwe and have started Asia Cup on the right note with another beautiful half-century. He has shown consistency and Sri Lanka will be hoping he keeps it up and lays the platform for them in all their coming games. Whenever he has failed, the Lankans have struggled with willow in hand.
Wanindu Hasaranga: Back in the side after a long lay-off, Wanindu Hasaranga showed why he is a force to reckon with in the previous game. He picked up two wickets which included Bangladesh captain Litton Das and was unplayable on Saturday night. Hasaranga makes a massive difference to the side and if he does well, Sri Lanka tends to do well. He will be eyeing a good show especially against batters who have never seen him before and may struggle against him.
Zeeshan Ali: The keeper batter Zeeshan Ali did get runs under his belt in the previous game but consumed a lot of balls. He will be keen at the top of the order to give Hong Kong a decent start. Hong Kong never gets off the blocks quickly as Ali plays a very slow knock. He needs to be told to accelerate and give the team a headstart from where the others can carry on with the momentum. If he gets a great start, it will be great for the team.
Nizakat Khan: The all-rounder in the side, Nizakat Khan has a huge role to play for Hong Kong as he controls the middle overs and sets the innings up. He played well in the previous game and will want to keep up his good work against the fancied nation Sri Lanka. He needs to be on his toes and apply himself in the middle to get runs. He can be a handy bowler as well troubling the batters as well.
Key Stats to look forward to in this clash:Â
- Pathum Nissanka needs 1 six to complete 50 T20I sixes.
- Kamindu Mendis needs 57 runs to complete 500 T20I runs.
- Dushmantha Chameera is three wickets away from becoming Sri Lanka’s third-highest wicket-taker in T20Is with 67 wickets.
- Anshuman Rath needs 9 fours to complete 200 T20I fours.
- Babar Hayat who has 2269 runs needs 56 more runs to leapfrog Nizakat Khan who has 2324 runs as Hong Kong’s all-time leading T20I run-scorer.
- Zeeshan Ali needs 3 sixes to complete 50 T20I sixes.
- Aizaz Khan needs 4 wickets to complete 100 T20I wickets.
Predicted Outcome of the MatchÂ
It is the first meeting between the two sides. In T20Is, anything can happen and can win on a given day. But looking at current form of both sides and on paper as well, Sri Lanka starts this match as overwhelming favourites and should easily dispose off Hong Kong. Hong Kong needs to play out of their skins to win later tonight.
Let’s see how this game goes in Dubai as this match will be the second of the day and is scheduled to start at 8:00 PM IST. Sri Lanka are the favourites, but Hong Kong will try and keep fighting as we are set for the contest to begin.
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