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Afghanistan Crush Hong Kong With Atal, Omarzai Blitz In Asia Cup 2025 Opener

Aakash Saini

Gulbadin Naib celebrating a Hong Kong wicket [Source: @ACBofficials/x]Gulbadin Naib celebrating a Hong Kong wicket [Source: @ACBofficials/x]

Afghanistan blanked Hong Kong to start off the 2025 Asia Cup on a triumphant note. Opener Sediqullah Atal and all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai clattered blistering half-centuries before bowlers collectively restricted Hong Kong batters to a moderate total.

Here, we take a look at the entire highlights of the first match of the Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 between Afghanistan and Hong Kong, as it panned out at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, September 9.

Sediqullah Atal And Omarzai Rocket Afghanistan To 188

Batting first, Afghanistan carted a monumental 188-6 in 20 overs despite losing opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz and number three Ibrahim Zadran early inside the powerplay to Ayush Shukla and Ateeq Iqbal respectively. Mohammad Nabi at number four chipped in with a handy 33 off 26 balls as the seasoned all-rounder crafted a counterattacking 51-run partnership with opener Sediqullah Atal. Sediqullah remained unbeaten throughout the innings, top-scoring with 73* off just 52 balls with six boundaries and three huge sixes.

For Hong Kong, Kinchit Shah picked up two wickets in the middle overs to claim figures of 2-24 in the high-scoring innings. However, Shah’s middle-overs threat was negated by Azmatullah Omarzai, who blasted five huge sixes and two boundaries to club 21-ball 53, thus turbo-charging Afghanistan’s innings at the death.

Afghanistan Bowlers Collectively Strangulate Hong Kong’s Response

Hong Kong lost both openers within the first two overs of the run-chase, with both of Afghanistan’s new ball pacemen Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai (1-4) striking in their first overs. A couple of runouts and a wicket for Noor Ahmad (1-16) further dented Hong Kong’s prospects as they slipped to 43-5 around the halfway stage of the innings.

Babar Hayat at number three waged Hong Kong’s lone rebellion with the bat as the cricketer composed a fighting 39 with three huge sixes. However, late wickets for Rashid Khan (1-24) and Gulbadin Naib (2-8) kept Hong Kong down to just 94-9 as Afghanistan procured a comprehensive 94-run win to start off the 2025 Men’s T20 Asia Cup on a triumphant note.