DUBAI, Tuesday: Debutant paceman Khalil Ahmed saved Asia Cup champions India the blushes against associate member Hong Kong when he took three wickets for 48 runs to give his team a 26-run win in their opening match played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
After India had run up a total of 285-7 riding on opener Shikhar Dhawan’s 14th ODI hundred, no one expected minnows Hong Kong to challenge that score.
But to everyone’s surprise they came within 27 runs of pulling off one of the biggest upsets in one-day cricket and it was only the bowling of Khalil and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (3/46) that restricted them to a total of 259-8.
This Group A match was expected to be a one-sided affair but Hong Kong openers Nizakat Khan and skipper Anshuman Rath converted this into a nightmarish one for India by indulging in a record opening partnership of 174 bettering the 170-run stand for the fourth wicket by the same pair against Scotland in 2016.
Nizakat went onto score a brilliant 115-ball 92 with 12 fours and a six and Rath contributed 73 off 97 balls with four fours and one six as they made India sweat for a breakthrough.
However it was here that India’s experience came into play as they got rid of both batsmen in successive overs and was able to put a break on the scoring rate as they picked up wickets at regular intervals.
India rested KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya for the high profile game against Pakistan on Wednesday - expecting an easy contest against Hong Kong, but they were taken by total surprise the way the minnows responded.
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