Hong Kong, ranked 23rd in the ICC T20I rankings, stapled their spot for the imminent Asia Cup after routing the home team United Arab Emirates (UAE) by eight wickets on Wednesday (August 24).
With this Hong Kong have joined India and Pakistan in Group A.
Hong Kong, who will be marking their fourth appearance in the marquee tournament after 2004, 2008, 2018 and the first time in T20I format, rode on Yasim Murtaza's impressive 58 to overhaul UAE's target of 148 with an over to spare.
The 31-year-old Murtaza in his 43-ball knock smoked seven boundaries and one six. But it was 37-year-old spinner Ehsan Khan who was adjudged the Player of the Match for his splendid 4/24 in his four overs as the brakes were applied to the UAE innings.
He removed both of the Gulf team's top scorers, skipper Chundangapoyil Rizwan (49), who was smartly stumped by Manchester-born wicketkeeper Scott McKechnie, and Zawar Farid (41).
For Hong Kong, skipper Nizakat Khan and opener Yazim Murtaza then powered the side to a quick start in the chase. The duo recorded Hong Kong’s highest-ever T20I opening partnership (85) before Nizakat fell for 39. The chase then went down to the wire before Hong Kong crossed the line with six balls to spare.
The Asia Cup 2022 will kick off on Saturday (August 27) with India, Pakistan and Hong Kong drawn in Group A and Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Group B respectively.
Hong Kong's first match will be against India on August 31 in Dubai, followed by Pakistan in Sharjah on September 2.
India's squad:
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Shahbaz Ahmed.
Standby: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar.
Pakistan's squad:
Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc) Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir.
