Abu Dhabi: Bangladesh beat Hong Kong by seven wickets to begin their campaign in the Asia Cup on a winning note here on Thursday. Bangladesh restricted Hong Kong to 143 for 7 and then chased down the target of 144 with 14 balls to spare. With the bat, skipper Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy scored 59 and 35 not out respectively, for Bangladesh.
Earlier, Invited to bat, Hong Kong were unable to score at a brisk rate and lost wickets in bulk towards the end of the innings.
Bangladesh, who have had a T20 reset under new captain Litton Das, dominated the powerplay after opting to bowl. Spinner Mahedi Hasan bowled the first over but it was the pace duo of Taskin Ahmed and Tanzim Hasan Sakib that troubled the Hong Kong top-order. There was a bit of swing and seam on offer with the new ball and the pacers exploited that well.
Taskin had Anshuman Rath (4) caught behind in his first over before Tanzim castled Babar Hayat (14 off 12) the ball after the number three batter slapped him for a straight six. An outswinger followed from Tanzim and Hayat was in no position to hit it out of the park, leaving his stumps rattled.
Brief Scores:
Hong Kong 143 for 7 in 20 overs (Nizakat Khan Zeeshan Ali 30; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 2/21, Rishad Hossain 2/31, Taskin Ahmed 2/38) lost to Bangladesh 144 for three in 17.4 overs (Litton Das 59, Towhid Hridoy 35 not out; Ayush Shukla 1/32, Ateeq Iqbal 2/14) by seven wickets.