Afghanistan off to dream start in Asia Cup 2025

Afghanistan kicked off with a great start on Tuesday in Asia Cup 2025 and defeated Hong Kong by 94 runs in the first match of Group B. Sediqullah Atal scored an unbeaten 73 and Azmatullah Omarzai scored 50 runs in only 20 balls. Afghanistan scored 188 runs and Hong Kong could score only 94.

Coach Jonathan Trott called the victory important but also cautioned the team. Trott said: “We started averagely today. We were a bit fortunate with a few dropped catches that sort of let us off. We need to make sure we improve on a few areas for the rest of the group games.”

Afghanistan came under pressure at the beginning of the match. An easy catch of Sediqullah Atal was missed in the very first over. And then he took full advantage of the opportunity and scored an unbeaten 73 runs in 52 balls.

Till the 16^thover, Afghanistan’s score was only 119/4. It seemed that the team would only be able to reach an average score. But Omarzai changed the direction of the innings. He scored 53 runs and helped Afghanistan to reach 188. 49 runs were scored in the 17^thand 19^thovers. Omarzai turned his innings into a record by hitting three consecutive sixes and a four.

Fastest fifties for Afghanistan in T20Is:

1 Azmatullah Omarzai: 20 balls vs Hong Kong in 2025

2 Mohammad Nabi: 21 balls vs Ireland in 2017

3 Gulbadin Naib: 21 balls vs India in 2024

4 Najibullah Zadran: 22 balls vs UAE in 2016

5 Hazratullah Zazai: 22 balls vs Ireland in 2018

The Hong Kong team could not even come close to this target. Their score became 22/4 in the first five overs. Captain Yasim Murtaza could score only 16 runs while Babar Hayat made a little effort by scoring 39 runs. But the rest of the batsmen failed. Gulbadin Naib took 2 wickets and the spinners kept the pressure on Hon Kong. Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed together gave only 44 runs in 10 overs.

Afghanistan made many mistakes in fielding. The team dropped three catches and looked weak in the beginning. But two run outs and a brilliant catch by Karim Janat proved to be a relief for the team. Trott also admitted that the team could have been in trouble due to poor fielding. This victory was a big relief for Afghanistan. Recently the team lost the tri-series final to Pakistan and was all out in just 66 runs.

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Only two teams from Group B will go to the Super4. Therefore, every match is important. Trott said, “This win was helpful just to move on and get past the final and move on and go into the Asia Cup. So we don’t have to dwell on a very disappointing game for us which I think we were a good shot of winning at the halfway mark.”

Afghanistan has to face Bangladesh and Sri Lanka next week in Asia Cup 2025.

Afghanistan Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Hong Kong Playing XI: Zeeshan Ali (wk), Babar Hayat, Anshuman Rath, Kalhan Challu, Nizakat Khan, Aizaz Khan, Kinchit Shah, Yasim Murtaza (c), Ayush Shukla, Ateeq Iqbal, Ehsan Khan

Brief scores: Afghanistan 188-6 (Atal 73*, Omarzai 53; Shah 2-24) beat Hong Kong 94-9 (Hayat 39; Naib 2-8, Farooqi 2-16) by 94 runs