Date: September, 02, 2022 (Friday)
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Ball-by-ball commentary: Sports Tiger App
Preview:
The second virtual knock-out game of the Asia Cup 2022 will bring Hong Kong up against Pakistan on Friday at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Both teams had faced similar fate against the same opponent i.e. India. While, Pakistan was defeated by India on Sunday, Hong Kong fell short of 40 runs on Wednesday against Men in Blue.
Pitch Report:
The pitch at Sharjah Cricket Stadium is generally a batting friendly wicket and gives plenty of help to the batters. Although, match between Bangladesh and Afghanistan on the same ground saw bowlers dominating the game but still we can expect some hard hitting from batters. We can expect scores around 160, considering the power-hitters both the teams have.
Team Analysis:
Pakistan:
Too much dependency on the top-three might hurt Men in Green as Babar Azam-led side looks to qualify for the knockout stage. In the first match against India, Md. Rizwan was the top-scorer with his 43 in 42 balls and middle-order batter Iftikhar Ahmed showed some class with his valiant 28 off 22. Top-order batters Babar Azam (10 off 9) and Fakhar Zaman (10 off 6) dismissed cheaply which costed heavy to Pakistan.
The management will expect better outing from both the batters against Hong Kong. In terms of bowling, debutant Naseem Shah was impressive as he scalped two wickets and conceded 27 runs in his four overs. Md. Nawaz was another bowler who did well on Sunday as he picked three crucial wickets in the game. The likes of Shadab Khan, Khushdil and Haris Rauf will have to understand their importance and delivery accordingly before going gets tough.
Hong Kong:
Team Hong Kong will have a daunting task ahead of us as Pakistan will leave no stone unturned to win the game. After losing the game by 40 runs, Hong Kong bowlers will have to work hard on nets in order to horn their death-over skills. In terms of batting, team will heavily depend on top-order batters like Yasim Murtaza, skipper Nizakat Khan, Babar Hayat and Kinchit Shah.
Predicted Playing XI:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasim Murtaza, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani.
Hong Kong: Yasim Murtaza, Nizakar Khan (C), Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, Aizaz Khan, Cott McKenhnie (wk), Zeeshan Ali, Haroon Arshad, Ehsan Khan, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Ayush Shukla
Match Prediction:
Conclusion:
Hong Kong will have a stiff challenge ahead of them as they take on Pakistan on Friday. Although, both teams had a disappointing outing in last game, but Pakistan will step as favorites on Friday. Considering the quality of cricket both teams are playing lately, Pakistan is expected to win the game comfortably.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the author’s point of view. They neither reflect the opinion of SportsTiger nor advise anyone to make any prediction based on this. SportsTiger does not assume any responsibility and liability for the same.
