4th Match, Group A, Asia Cup at Dubai
India won by 26 runs
Anshuman Rath wanted to change his team’s fortunes by opting to bowl first, after batting first against Pakistan had led to a heavy defeat. Halfway through Hong Kong’s match against India on Tuesday, Rath would have been satisfied that at least so far, his team had scrapped well.
India racked up 285 for 7 in their 50 overs, driven by Shikhar Dhawan’s 14th ODI century, but that was not nearly as many as they had threatened to get when they were 237 for 2 in 40 overs.
The total still ought to be enough for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal to defend, especially on a pitch where the ball is not really coming on to the bat, but reining India in after that fantastic start represented a victory of sorts for Hong Kong nevertheless.
For three-fourths of the innings, India were in cruise control mode, gathering runs at fast clip without trying to hit the ball too hard. It was the right strategy on a pitch that was slow, but when they started to go hard, they paid the price with a mini-collapse with three wickets falling in two overs, for the addition of just eight runs. That included Dhawan for a 120-ball 127 and MS Dhoni for a three-ball duck that left the sparse crowd stunned into silence. But Kedar Jadhav played a deft little hand to push the total along.
When the innings began, it was Rohit Sharma who got off the blocks quicker than Dhawan, contrary to type. Rohit’s timing was mostly on point, and he did enough to find the fence regularly. He had just begun to transition into ominous territory when he was done in by Ehsan Khan, who floated an off-break that didn’t turn as much as expected and took Rohit’s leading edge to go straight to mid-off.
Dhawan though, settled in nicely once he had adjusted to the slow pace of the track. Sussing what shots would work quickly, he was imperious while driving and flicking, and mostly untroubled by Hong Kong’s bowlers.
Ambati Rayudu was sent in at No.3, and though he took his time to get going, once he settled in, the runs were coming briskly from both ends. The two put on 116 runs in 130 balls for the second wicket, until some good work by Scott McKenchie with the gloves ended the partnership. Rayudu got a glove to a bouncer off Ehsan Nawaz, which McKenchie latched on to, standing up to the stumps. Rayudu had got 60 off 70, an innings that would have infused some confidence on his comeback.
With Dhawan still there, India were still going strong, until he became the first of Kinchit Shah’s three victims. Brought on to bowl his part-time offspin only in the 33rd over, Kinchit’s bowling speed was perfect for the conditions, and he didn’t stray in length either. He got Dinesh Karthik too, and in between, Ehsan had got Dhoni nicking behind for McKenchie’s second good catch to leave India a bit wobbly. Jadhav played his assortment of innovative and unorthodox shots to make an unbeaten 28 off 27 with just one six – chipped over Ehsan Nawaz – to push India past 280. But that only 48 runs came in the last ten overs was testament to how well Hong Kong pulled things back. Kinchit had 3 for 39 in nine overs, while Ehsan took 2 for 65. Left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed wasn’t among the wickets but his ten overs went for only 39, and perhaps pointed Hong Kong to what sort of bowling would work on this pitch. – Cricinfo
