The first phase of the Asia Cup concludes on Friday and it does so with another knockout match as Group A finishes up with a do or die clash between Hong Kong and Pakistan with the competition heading back to Sharjah for this one.
One of the best things about the groups only having three teams in them is that with both of these teams losing to India already the equation here is very simple. Win and go through, lose and go home. There is no run rate issues.
Hong Kong
Without meaning any disrespect, I don’t think too many would have expected Hong Kong to beat India in their opening match and I wouldn’t imagine too many more expect them to beat Pakistan either. To be fair to Hong Kong though they certainly wasn’t disgraced in the defeat to India. India have beaten better sides than them by greater margins than 40 runs. Hong Kong will want to progress here but you sense they have already achieved great things just making it to this stage.
If Hong Kong do harbour hopes of winning this match then they are going to need to bowl better, although in fairness they were going alright in that first game under Suryakumar Yadav came in and went ballistic. On this smaller ground though they could be under the pump a little earlier so they will need to bowl well. They didn’t bat too badly against India and now they have got the nerves out of the way it wouldn’t be a surprise if they go better with the bat here.
Pakistan
Given all the build-up to their opening match against India, it would have been hard for Pakistan to perform to the level they would have desired. I don’t think they will suggest they were at their best but they still nearly pulled a win out of the fire. They now have to win here else they will be out of the tournament and their preparations for the T20 World Cup will be in tatters. Such is the fickle nature of sport should Pakistan win here they will be spoken about as potential champions.
I think it is fair to say that Pakistan will need to bat better if they are going to be champions but it might just be that after warming up for this tournament in the Netherlands, Pakistan needed a match to adjust to the slower and lower conditions. If that is the case then they will naturally bat better here. Where they don’t need a lot of improvement is with the ball. They were very solid in that first game but didn’t quite have enough runs on the board to get over the line.
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Team News
Hong Kong didn’t do a lot wrong in defeat in their opening match against India so unless they want to give those who haven’t played yet the chance to taste a tournament like this they should be unchanged.
Pakistan will be assessing the fitness of Naseem Shah who suffered with cramps in the latter stages of the defeat to India last Sunday. Mohammad Hasnain is waiting in the wings should the man who has been at Gloucestershire this summer not be passed fit.
Betting
Mohammad Rizwan is an excellent player in this format of the game. He averages more than 50 for Pakistan in it so it stands to reason that we should expect him to cover his runs line of 32.5. He covered that against India at the beginning of the week and the reason behind his good record in this format is because he doesn’t look to pound the ball from the outset. Both Pakistan openers play themselves in before they express themselves.
That isn’t necessarily a bad thing in these conditions as we’ve seen in most of the matches so far that when teams have wickets in hand they can catch up at the back end of the innings so there is no reason for Rizwan to come out of his comfort zone. Rizwan has got to 33 and beyond in six of his last seven matches in this format of the game so the over on that run line looks to have a fair bit of mileage on a man who has been playing all summer.
Tips
Back M.Rizwan – Over 32.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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