Virat Kohli's much-awaited half-century and Suryakumar Yadav’s blistering 68* guided India to 192-2 against Hong Kong in the fourth match of the Asia Cup 2022 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Kohli smashed an unbeaten 59 while Suryakumar scored 68* to guide India to a daunting total.
For Hong Kong, Mohammad Ghazanfar and Ayush Shukla bagged one wicket each.
Put to bat first, India got off to a flying start as their openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul hammered Hong Kong bowlers for 38 runs in under five overs.
Rohit’s innings was cut short as he fell prey to Hong Kong’s Ayush Shukla after scoring 21 runs off 13 balls. The Indian skipper mistimed his shot and was caught at mid-off.
The loss of the captain’s wicket invited Virat Kohli, who played every ball with caution and kept rotating the strike.
After 10 overs, the duo of Rahul and Kohli took India’s total to 70-1. In the 11th over of the innings, Mohammad Ghazanfar gave India a big blow as he dismissed KL Rahul, who scored 36 runs in 39 deliveries.
The hard-hitting batter Suryakumar Yadav entered the crease and scored back-to-back fours of Yasim Murtaza’s bowling to ease the pressure on the Indian team. With some blistering shots from Suryakumar, team India ended the 14th over with 107 runs on the board with loss of two wickets.
In the 16th over of the innings, Suryakumar smashed back to back sixes and a four. He continued the form and in the 18th over, he hammered consecutive fours and a six of the deliveries off Ayush Shukla.
In the 19th over, Kohli brought up his much-anticipated half-century. It came in 40 balls and he reached it with a six off Ehsan Khan.
In the last over, Suryakumar slammed three successive sixes to bring up his fifty off just 22 balls.
He hit another six one ball later as he hammered 26 runs in the final over to propel India to 192-2.