Bangladesh began their Asia Cup 2025’s campaign with a seven-wicket victory over Hong Kong during the tournament’s third match at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, on Thursday. Chasing a modest 144-run target, the Tigers comfortably knocked the winning runs for the loss of three wickets and 14 balls to spare. Leading the way for them was their captain, Das, who top-scored with a 39-ball 59, studded with six fours and a six. Das was supported by Towhid Hridoy, who remained a notable contributor with an unbeaten 35 off 36 deliveries. The duo also shared a 95-run partnership for the third wicket, which culminated with Das’s dismissal on the first delivery of the 18th over when Bangladesh needed only two. Ateeq Iqbal was the pick of the bowlers for Hong Kong, taking two wickets for 14 runs in his 3.4 overs, while Ayush Shukla made one strike. Bangladesh captain Litton Das’s decision to field first paid dividends as his team’s bowling unit curtailed Hong Kong to 143/7 in their allotted 20 overs. Hong Kong got off to a shaky start to their innings as Taskin Ahmed got Anshy Rath (four) caught behind on the third delivery of the second over with just seven runs on the board. The associate nation then suffered another setback in the batting powerplay, when Babar Hayat (14) was cleaned up by Tanzim Hasan Sakib, and consequently slipped to 30/2 in 4.4 overs. Following the early stutter, middle-order batter Nizakat Khan and opener Zeeshan Ali launched a brief recovery by putting together 41 runs for the third wicket until Tanzim Hasan Sakib got rid of the latter to break the budding partnership. The wicketkeeper batter remained a notable run-getter for Hong Kong, scoring 30 off 34 with the help of three fours and a six. Nizakat was involved in another important partnership for Hong Kong when he, alongside captain Yasim Murtaza, added 46 runs for the fourth wicket. Murtaza, who was the core aggressor of the crucial stand, had an agonising end to his blistering cameo as he got run out after scoring 28 off 19 deliveries with the help of two sixes and as many fours. Nizakat, on the other hand, fell victim to Taskin in the penultimate over and walked back after top-scoring for Hong Kong with a 40-ball 42, laced with two fours and a six. Following his dismissal, Hong Kong lost two more wickets and could add nine runs to their total. For Bangladesh, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed and Rishad Hossain bagged two wickets each.
Asia Cup 2025: Bangladesh defeat Hong Kong by seven wickets
