Strong Sri Lanka face struggling Hong Kong in Asia Cup

Dubai, Sep 14 (PTI) Sri Lanka will look to build on their perfect start in Asia Cup when they take on a struggling Hong Kong here on Monday.

Sri Lanka, who won the Asia Cup the last time it was held in the T20 format, ticked all boxes in their opener against Bangladesh.

From getting wickets in the powerplay to sealing the game inside the first six overs with the bat, Sri Lanka sent ominous signals to the tougher teams in the eight team competition.

They meet Hong Kong, a side which has lost two games in a row with its batters having a tough time against the more accomplished opponents.

Considering their batting struggles, a drastic improvement will be needed against Sri Lanka to make a match out of it.

The pace duo of Nuwan Thushara and Dushmantha Chameera would be fancying themselves against Hong Kong's fragile top-order.

If the Yasim Murtaza led unit is able to negotiate them in the powerplay, overcoming spinner Wanindu Hasaranga could prove to be a tougher task. Trust Hasarang to target the stumps and fox the batters with an odd googly.

Death overs specialist Matheesha Pathirana had an off day against Bangladesh and he would be eager to roll over the opposition with a barrage of yorkers.

On the batting front, Sri Lanka's top-order comprising Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis and Kamil Mishara can be destructive on their day. Nissanka and Mishara go into the game with runs under their belt.

Murtaza, who is among the few boundary hitters in his side, knows where his batters need to work on. However, the bowlers showed big improvement in their last game against Bangladesh.

"To be honest, I am happy with the batters but would have been happier if one of them got 60-70+ and got a big total. I think we know what we need to work on, hopefully we’ll do better next time," Murtaza said after the loss to Bangladesh.

Hong Kong openers Zeeshan Ali and Anhsuman Rath have been underwhelming thus far and if their team is to do any better, they must get the runs in the powerplay.

Charith Asalanka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Nuwanidu Fernando, Kamindu Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana.

Yasim Murtaza (c), Babar Hayat, Zeeshan Ali, Nizakat Khan, Nasrulla Rana, Martin Coetzee, Anshuman Rath, Kalhan Challu, Ayush Shukla, Aizaz Khan, Ateeq Iqbal, Kinchit Shah, Adil Mehmood, Haroon Arshad, Ali Hassan, Shahid Wasif, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Mohammad Waheed, Anas Khan, Ehsan Khan.

Match starts 8 PM IST. PTI BS ATK