Experts stated that Hong Kong China will be blown away when Charith Asalanka inserted them into bat at Dubai International Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Frankly, it was the other way round , Sri Lanka huffed and puffed, proved to be big-time chokers, and were lucky to win , thanks to Hong Kong China, butter fingering catches
Nuwan Thushara bowled 2 appaling spells upfront and set the tone for Hong Kong openers Anshuman Rath, who made 48 ,and Zeeshan Ali, who made 23 to score with ease and stich a partnership of 41 for the first wicket.
Nizkat Khan rated as an international batter blasted even Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera with Fantastic stroke play and made a meal out of Nuwan Thushara who was more than off colour against this batter who made a stroke filled unbeaten 52 , as the Sri Lankan bowlers including the wicketless Mahees Theekshana simply looked mediocre bowling to this great batter.
Hong Kong made a challenging target of 149 for 4 wickets which Sri Lanka struggled to reach against quality spin and seam that bamboozled the Sri Lankan batters.
Only Pathum Nissanka, who made 68, that too he was run out, but the rest of the big names like Kusal Mendis, even Kamil Mishra, Kusal Janith perera including the much hyped Kamindu Mendis and Charith Asalanka fell cheaply against a quality bowling attack.
Sri Lanka lost 4 wickets for 8 runs from the 16th over , and Lady Luck helped them to cross the line, thanks to Hong Kong, they dropped easy catches , hence, had they been taken, Hong-Kong would have created history.
They looked the better side, at least in terms of intent, the self-belief, which Sri Lanka lacked.
They will be a force to reckon with in the future and richly deserve to be in the tournament.
Well played Hong-Kong, Sri Lanka now realise they either blow hot or cold , hence reliability on their performance on the day is a unanswered question , unless otherwise these areas are addressed beating quality teams like India , Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand during the World Cup championship will be inbthe horizon.