Sri Lanka won’t dread this chase, but they would feel much better if their openers gave them a platform. Nissanka, their form batter at the moment, hit the first boundary of the innings, launching Yasim Murtaza over mid on for a one-bounce four.
He looks less comfortable against Ayush Shukla, who won an lbw decision against Nissanka fifth ball of the second over, only for Nissanka to review successfully (the ball was missing leg).
A recap of that HK innings
Hong Kong clambered to a respectable 149 for 4, as Nizakat Khan drove them through the middle and back end of the innings, after Anshuman Rath had held down the fort in the early overs. The two combined in the middle for a partnership worth 61 off 43 balls – Nizakat contributing 33 off 22, while Rath went at a slower pace.
Nizakat was not out at the crease on 52 off 38 balls at the end. It was his 12th T20I half-century, and his first against a Full Member (ICC or ACC), plus Hong Kong’s second ever fifty at this event. He’d been reprieved twice in the 17th over, bowled by Nuwan Thushara, but with so many wicket left, he was perhaps right to try low-percentage shots. Rath had fallen two runs short of 50, and struck at 104.34. He scored almost exclusively in front of square.
Sri Lanka may have hoped to blow Hong Kong away when they asked them to bat first, but they didn’t have a lot of luck in the early overs. Zeeshan Ali scored boundaries off the outside and inside edge, and Dushmantha Chameera dropped off Thushara’s bowling.
Chameera would go on to put in another strong performance, however, eventually dismissing Zeeshan, and later, Rath. He took the innings’ best figures of 2 for 29, but the spinners also delivered some economical overs. Maheesh Theekshana conceded only 22 off his four overs, while Wanindu Hasaranga took 1 for 27.
Nizakat picks up a fifty
He becomes the second Hong Kong player after Babar Hayat to get a fifty in the Asia Cup.
It’s Nizakat’s 12th overall, and perhaps his most valuable, as it is his first against a Full Member (ICC or ACC). On the back of his 52 not out off 38 balls, Hong Kong have clambered to 149 for 4 – a defendable total, if not quite an imposing one.