Asia Cup | Hong Kong joins India, Pakistan in Group A after winning qualifier

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BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Hong Kong pipped the United Arab Emirates by two wickets to win the Asia Cup qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur and join India and Pakistan in Group A of the main draw starting from September 15. Hong Kong will meet Pakistan on September 16 and India on 18th in the group stage of the six-team event.

Hong Kong and UAE met in the finals of Asia Cup qualifiers which was being played in Malaysia. Riding on opener Ashfaq Ahmed's knock of 79 runs off 51 deliveries, the hosts of Asia Cup scored 176/9 in 24 overs. Apart from Ashfaq, there was no significant contribution from other batsmen and UAE kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Shaiman Anwar's 22 was the second highest score in the UAE innings. Medium pacer Aizaz Khan ran through the batting line up by picking up five wickets for Hong Kong. Slow left-armer Nadeem Ahmed claImed three including crucial wicket of Ashfaq.

Coming out to chase the revised target of 179 in 24 overs, Nizakat Khan and captain Anshuman Rath gave a solid start to the run-chase by adding 64 runs for the first wicket. But after Rath's dismissal for 28 in the 10th over, Hong Kong was reeling with the scorecard reading 82/4.

Christopher Carter and Ehsan Khan scored 33 and 29 respectively and made the run-chase a bit easier. Hong Kong still lost four wickets before the game went into the last over with Hong Kong having the last laugh. 

As many as six teams are participating in this edition of the Asia Cup which will be played in the ODI format in UAE. Group A comprises India, Pakistan and Hong Kong while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are in the other group. The final is scheduled to be played in Dubai on September 28.

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