Hong Kong post 143/7 against Bangladesh

Abu Dhabi, Sep 11 (PTI) Bangladesh put up a disciplined bowling effort to limit Hong Kong to 143 for seven in their Asia Cup opener here on Thursday.

Bangladesh, who have had a T20 reset under new captain Litton Das, dominated the powerplay after opting to bowl.

Spinner Mahedi Hasan bowled the first over but it was the pace duo of Taskin Ahmed and Tanzim Hasan Sakib that troubled the Hong Kong top-order. There was a bit of swing and seam on offer with the new ball and the pacers exploited that well.

Taskin had Anshuman Rath (4) caught behind in his first over before Tanzim castled Babar Hayat (14 off 12) the ball after the number three batter slapped him for a straight six. An outswinger followed from Tanzim and Hayat was in no position to hit it out of the park, leaving his stumps rattled.

Hong Kong struggled to 34 for two in the powerplay.

Opener Zeeshan Ali (30 off 34) played a few crisp strokes, including a six over extra cover off leg-spinner Rishad Hossain before being dismissed by Mustafizur Rahman in the 12th over.

With a good mix of pacers and spinners, Bangladesh bowling looked like a potent unit that Hong Kong batters struggled to go after.

Hong Kong captain Yasim Murtaza (28 off 19) tried his best to up the scoring rate with the a pick-up shot off Tanzim going all the way into the stands being his standout strike.

It was largely due to him that Hong Kong were able to cross the 140-run mark. PTI BS AH AH