Match Preview, Asia Cup 2022, Match 6

Pakistan take on Hong Kong in the last group game in Asia Cup 2022 on September 2, Friday in Sharjah before the Super 4 stage begins from September 3, Saturday. Afghanistan after beating Bangladesh on Tuesday, August 30 has become the first team to reach the Super 4. Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are placed in Group B. India and Pakistan are placed in group A along with Hong Kong. All the matches will be played in Dubai and Sharjah.

Pakistan and Hong Kong both lost to India. Thus, this match becomes a must-win for both teams. The loser of this match will be eliminated from the rest of the tournament. The teams thus face a do-or-die situation heading into the game. 

A total of 13 matches will take place during the tournament. India are the defending champions of the tournament, which won the title back in 2018 by defeating Bangladesh in the final. India has also won the most 7 Asia Cup titles so far. Sri Lanka comes next with 5 titles while Pakistan has won 2 titles.

During the group stage, each team will play one match against the teams in their group. The top 2 teams from both groups will qualify for the super four round. During the super 4 round, each team will play one match against the other. The top two teams will qualify for the final which will be played in Dubai on September 11.

Pakistan vs Hong Kong: Match Preview, Asia Cup 2022, Match 6

Pakistan

Pakistan lost to India in their first match of the Asia Cup 2022 campaign. They scored 147 batting first which was not enough in the end as Hardik Pandya kept his cool to take India home. Skipper Babar Azam after the game said that his team was 15-20 runs short from the par target.

“We were about 10-15 runs short. Bowlers did really well to make a match of this. Our tail did step up a bit to add those handy runs. Thought was to take the game deep (and hold back Nawaz’s last over). Idea was to create pressure but Hardik finished well. He (Naseem) is a very young bowler but bowled so well, and showed so much aggression” said Babar after the loss against India. 

Pakistan will fancy their chances against Hong Kong but cannot take the side lightly. They also should have a game plan ready for the side who will give their best in the game as well. 

Pakistan Squad 

Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali

Hong Kong 

Hong Kong can be the giant killer in this tournament. They topped the Asia Cup qualifiers beating UAE, Kuwait ad Singapore in the process. Nizakat Khan will lead the side and players like Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah and veteran Ehsan Khan Hong Kong have a lot of experience in the side. They can certainly spring a surprise against Pakistan who was inconsistent in the first match against India.

Hong Kong Squad 

Nizakat Khan (c), Kinchit Shah, Zeeshan Ali, Haroon Arshad, Babar Hayat, Aftab Hussain, Ateeq Iqbal, Aizaz Khan, Ehsan Khan, Scott McKechnie (wk), Ghazanfar Mohammad, Yasim Murtaza, Dhananjay Rao, Wajid Shah, Ayush Shukla, Ahan Trivedi, Mohammad Waheed

Also Read: India vs Hong Kong Match Preview, Asia Cup 2022, Match 4