Sports Desk, Bangladesh Global: Bangladesh 'A' has started the Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024 campaign with a convincing win over Hong Kong-China national team by 5 wickets in the opening match.
Captain Akbar Ali played a crucial cameo, scoring 45 runs off just 24 balls, which made the chase easier for his team. Bangladesh surpassed the target with 10 balls to spare.
This is the first time the Emerging Asia Cup is being held in T20 format. The match took place at Oman's Al Amerat Cricket Ground, where Bangladesh secured a comfortable victory. Ripon Mondol's fiery pace bowling limited Hong Kong to 150 runs in 20 overs, as he took 4 wickets for just 24 runs. Following that, Akbar Ali's impressive innings guided Bangladesh towards an easy win.
Chasing the target, Bangladesh got off to a fast start, scoring 14 runs in the first over. However, openers Parvez Hossain Emon and Jishan Alam couldn't build on the momentum, with Jishan departing for 11 runs off 11 balls. After 5 overs, Bangladesh was at 32 runs for the loss of 1 wicket.
In the powerplay, the score was 38 runs, but they soon lost Saif Hasan, who fell for 5 runs on the first ball he faced. Despite Emon being set, he could only manage 28 runs from 17 balls, which included 2 sixes and a four.
Captain Akbar Ali then took charge, scoring 21 runs in a single over against Yasir Mortaza. Tawhid Hridoy also contributed by hitting a six to push Bangladesh past 100 runs, although he fell victim to an LBW decision after scoring 29 runs off 22 balls.
Akbar Ali's explosive innings of 45 runs off 24 balls propelled Bangladesh 'A' to their target, reaching it in just 18.2 overs. Shamim Patowary remained unbeaten on 19.
Earlier, after losing the toss and being asked to bat first, the Hong Kong national team faced an early collapse. Ripon Mondol took two wickets in the third over, leaving Hong Kong at just 9 runs. However, a strong partnership between captain Nizakat Khan and Babar Hayat steadied the ship, with a 65-run partnership until Nizakat was dismissed for 25 runs.
Despite Bangladesh taking regular wickets, Babar Hayat kept the momentum going with his aggressive batting. He was finally out for 85 runs in the 19th over, with Hong Kong managing to score 130 runs at that point. In his innings of 61 balls, Babar hit 7 sixes and only 2 boundaries. Hong Kong scored 65 runs in the last 5 overs, finishing with 150 runs for 4 wickets in their 20 overs.
Bangladesh 'A' will next face Afghanistan on October 20 and Sri Lanka on October 22.
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