It was 9th September, which was the opening day of the Asia Cup 2025. The Afghanistan team was playing against the Hong Kong team at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Surely, the Afghans were the favorites to win the match and did so. Afghanistan beat Hong Kong by 94 runs to get their first win in the Asia Cup 2025.
Basically, Rashid Khan was the captaining the Afghanistan team, and at the same time, Yasim Murtaza was the captain of the Hong Kong team. Both captains came out for the toss, and it was Rashid Khan who won the toss. He decided his team would bat first. As batting first would help his bowlers to know what total to defend.
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Afghanistan beat Hong Kong by 94 runs to get their first win in the Asia Cup 2025
Hong Kong bowlers started on a positive note as they picked up two early wickets, getting out the main batters. Ayush Shukla got out of Gurbaz, whereas Ateeq Iqbal took the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran. Sediqullah Atal and Nabi had a partnership of 51 runs before Nabi got out on 33 runs. It was a mind-blowing performance from Azmatullah Omarzai as he scored 53 runs in just 21 balls, which included five sixes and two fours. The opening batter, Sediqullah Atal, played all 20 overs as he scored 73*. Afghanistan scored 188 runs and lost six wickets in their 20 overs.
It was a challenging chase for Hong Kong. The Afghanistan bowlers were clinical from the first ball as they picked up four early wickets for just 22 runs. The Hong Kong batter never looked that comfortable as they played all the overs and could only score 94 runs.
They also lost the match by 94 runs. All the bowlers contributed with wickets that were very economical. The spinners did their job. Gulbadin Naib, in his three overs, only gave eight runs and took two wickets.
Sediqullah Atal and Azmatullah Omarzai were both the favourites to win the player of the match award. Eventually, Azmatullah Omarzai was the player of the match in the first match of the Asia Cup 2025. This was the third-largest margin by which a team has defeated its opponent in the Asia Cup T20 format.
Afghanistan needs to put in better efforts in their fielding department, as they drop eight catches. This is a joint record for the most catches dropped in the T20 format in the last five years.
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