Asia Cup 2022: India vs Hong Kong, 4th T20I - Who Said What

India registered a comfortable victory against Hong Kong in Match 4 of Asia Cup 2022 at the Dubai International Stadium to qualify for the Super 4. The Men in Blue made one change to their lineup by resting Hardik Pandya and including Rishabh Pant.

Earlier, after winning the toss, the Hong skipper Nizakat Khan asked the Indian side to bat. The Hong Kong bowlers did a good job by keeping the runs under control for the first ten overs. However, once KL Rahul was dismissed for 36, Kohli and Suryakumar joined hands and took on the bowlers. 

Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav take India to a huge total

The unbeaten 98-run partnership took India to a massive total of 192 on the board in their 20 overs while the two batters remained unbeaten after getting to their half-centuries. Suryakumar played a stunning knock of 68 off just 26 balls and hit four sixes in the final over to shift the momentum completely in India’s favour. 

In reply, Hong Kong fell short by 40 runs, however, there were a lot of positives for the associate nation. Babar Hayat (41) broke the shackles in the powerplay and got off the blocks quickly to give glimpses of hope to the fans. Zeeshan Ali and Scott McKechnie got some useful runs towards the end and damaged the figures of Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan. 

Losing skipper, Nizakat Khan said:

The way we started with the ball, until 13th over we were amazing. Our fielding was amazing as well. But we slipped after that. The way Suryakumar batted, it was good to watch. It was a good opportunity for all the boys. We were away for a long time, credit goes to boys and I am really proud of them. We are gonna sit down tomorrow, we'll have a look at our death bowling. We will improve.

Winning skipper, Rohit Sharma said:

We batted pretty well to start with, got to a very good score. Came out and bowled reasonably well, we could have done slightly better with the ball. (SKY) The kind of innings he played today, the words will be short. We have seen that with him every now and then. He comes up with such kinds of knocks. He just comes out and bats fearlessly which is what the team expects from him. Some of the shots he played today, those are not written anywhere in the book. It was very pleasing to watch. Shot selection was also crucial. We know he can play all around the park. We have also informed the group about this as well. Most of the guys are ready to take the opportunity and be ready to bat wherever required. That's the flexibility we need. We'll take those chances. We are going to try and use the right match-ups.

POTM, Suryakumar Yadav said

Some of them are predetermined, this format is all about what you think and how you prepare before you go out to bat. At the same time, you got to be staying in the present as well. I felt the wicket was a bit slow. My plan was clear. My role was to go in and take the tempo up and just express myself, I just loved it. (Adapting to different positions) you got to be flexible, you should be equipped to bat at any number and I have opened as well. I have batted at all numbers. I really enjoyed it.