Asia Cup 2025 | Twitter reacts as Bangladesh open their account with dominant win over Hong Kong

Bangladesh won the toss and started well with the ball after putting Hong Kong into bat in the third game of the tournament, with Taskin Ahmed finding Anshuman Rath’s outside edge in the second over. The bowlers continued to put the batters under pressure while the Hong Kong batters tried to open the shackles by attempting some aggressive strokes. Unfortunately, the risky approach from Babar Hayat and Zeeshan Ali did not work as Hayat was finally knocked over by Tanzim Sakib after striking him for six in the previous ball. In the end, Hong Kong were restricted to 34/2 in the first six overs. After the power play, there was a slow and steady partnership between Zeeshan and Nizakat Khan that helped them recover from a tricky position. Unfortunately, the 41-run third-wicket stand came to an end in the twelfth over as Ali top-edged a shortish ball by Sakib and was caught by Mustafizur Rahman, who took a well-judged catch while running back from mid-wicket. As Zeeshan’s innings of 30 off 34 deliveries finally came to an end, the struggles for Hong Kong continued with the score reading 89/3 after 14 overs. There was some hope created by Hong Kong skipper Yasim Murtaza, who managed to get some big hits away, but was not getting the needed support from Nizakat, who struggled to find his timing. As the pressure began to mount, the associate nation gifted in the 18th over as Murtza’s flamboyant knock of 28 off 19 as he was run out in one of the most embarrassing fashion at the non-striker's end. Nizakat, who struggled for the majority of his sluggish knock, managed to find some boundaries at the death, which finally got his strike rate above 100. Unfortunately, as soon as he started to find the middle of the bat, his hard-fought knock of 42 off 40 came to an end in the 19th over by Rishad Hossain, who also followed it up with a wicket of Kinchit Shah on the final delivery of the over. In the end, the Hong Kong innings finished on a score of 143/7.