India secure Super 4 spot with a comfortable win against Hong Kong

A contest that would have needed a miracle for minnows Hong Kong to cause an upset was simply not to be as Team India sailed hammer and tongs to the forthcoming round, awaiting their adversaries to advance. Hong Kong tried their best to keep India chained but the efforts went in vain after Virat Kohli returned impressive figures, while Suryakumar Yadav’s late blitzkrieg blew the battle beyond contention.

Nizakhat Khan won the toss and opted to bowl first on a surface that had its own demons. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul took some time to shake off the early jitters before the Hitman started bringing out the heavy artillery. Just when it felt that the Indian captain was planning to take the Hong Kong bowlers head-on, Ayush Shukla produced a ripper to remove the hard-swinging Indian captain.

Virat Kohli took over the command and steered the ship warily alongside KL Rahul until Mohammed Ghazanfar removed the opener with Scott McKenchie pouching a sitter. With 8 overs left to go, Kohli had to lead the show with Suryakumar joining him in the middle.

The narrative that simply rolled along till that time started taking flight with Suryakumar Yadav going ballistic while the Hong Kong bowlers who were in control of the contest till that time found themselves in flames. Scrambling desperately for a fire blanket, it exploded into a full-blown conflagration for the minnows with Virat Kohli showcasing his supremacy with an unbeaten 59 from just 44 balls.

Chasing 193 to win, Hong Kong was off to a cautious start but walking on eggshells didn’t promote their cause as Arshdeep Singh administered an early blow with Yasim Murtaza miscuing his essay. Babar Hayat and Nizakhat Khan put their feet on the pedal as the runs started coming in steadily for Hong Kong until Ravindra Jadeja left the timbre in shambles with a thunderbolt from range.

The Hong Kong batters failed to get into the groove and the momentum never really kicked in for the Red Army with the Indian bowlers mounting pressure with some clinical overs. While the equation kept on spiraling out of control, the Men in Blue also managed to tumble wickets at regular intervals, firing shards into Hong Kong’s ambitions.

Despite a resolute battle, the ask was too steep for the Men in Red as they succumbed to the precipitous equation with Team India securing a 40-run win to book a slot in the Super 4 stages, topping Group A.