Asia Cup: Sediqullah, Omarzai fifties carry Afghanistan to 188/6 against HK

Abu Dhabi, Sep 9 (PTI) Well-paced fifties by Sediqullah Atal and Azmatullah Omarzai helped Afghanistan tide over their top-order batters’ struggle against pace-off deliveries of Hong Kong bowlers, and make a healthy 188 for six in the Asia Cup opener here on Tuesday.

Atal (73 not out off 52 balls) and Omarzai (53 off 21 balls) judged the nature of the pitch to perfection, and played accordingly while waiting for their chances to free the arm.

The left-handed opener began with a slew of boundaries against new ball in the Power Play segment once Afghanistan opted to bat first, but soon settled into a calmer tempo.

He fetched his fifty, third in T20Is, in 41 balls, and between the 5th and 13th over, there was only one big shot — a pull off off-spinner Kinchit Shah over mid-wicket for a six.

Shah deserved a special mention for tying up the usually hard-hitting Afghan batters with a series of under-cutters, that they failed either to read or work around for singles.

Mohammad Nabi (33 off 26 balls) took a few balls to find his range, but once he slipped into the rhythm the veteran all-rounder hammered pacer Aizaz Khan for a four and six in successive balls.

But that proved a false dawn as Nabi fell to Shah while trying to clear the long-off fielder.

Nizakat Khan took a simple catch to end the promising 51 runs stand for the third wicket and soon the Afghans were struggling at 95 for four after 13 overs.

Atal had a big slice of fortune too when Ehsan Khan dropped a dolly at short third man off left-arm spinner Yasim Murtaza.

The Afghan batter was on 51 then and he punished Hong Kong bowlers adding 82 runs for the fifth wicket with Omarzai, who clobbered pacer Ayush Shukla for 6, 6, 6, and 4 in successive balls of the 19th over.

Atal plundered pacer Ateeq Iqbal for two consecutive sixes — over long on and square leg respectively — and then a paddle sweep for four as Afghanistan found some late momentum, milking 25 runs from the 17th over.

Overall, Hong Kong also struggled with their fielding in the later stages of the innings, as they dropped Omarzai as well. PTI UNG ATK