ABU DHABI: Bangladesh thrashed Hong Kong by seven wickets in their first Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 outing at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Chasing a modest 144-run target, Bangladesh knocked off the winning runs for the loss of three wickets and 14 balls to spare.
The Bengal Tigers relied on Litton Das (59) and Towhid Hridoy (35*) to steer the chase. They both shared a 95-run partnership for the third wicket.
Boundaries dried up through the middle overs, and the target crept along rather than rushed. But once Hong Kong’s intensity waned, Litton broke free, turning 26 off 24 into a 33-ball fifty.
Ateeq Iqbal was the pick of the bowlers for Hong Kong, taking two wickets for 14 runs in his 3.4 overs, while Ayush Shukla made one strike.
Bangladesh captain Litton Das’s decision to field first paid dividends as his team’s bowling unit curtailed Hong Kong to 143/7 in their allotted 20 overs.
Hong Kong got off to a shaky start to their innings as Taskin Ahmed got Anshy Rath (four) caught behind on the third delivery of the second over with just seven runs on the board.
The associate nation then suffered another setback in the batting powerplay, when Babar Hayat (14) was cleaned up by Tanzim Hasan Sakib, and consequently slipped to 30/2 in 4.4 overs.
For Bangladesh, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, and Rishad Hossain bagged two wickets each.
Playing XIs:
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Litton Das (c & wk), Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Jaker Ali, Mahedi Hasan, Tanzim Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, and Mustafizur Rahman.
Hong Kong: Zeeshan Ali (wk), Anshy Rath, Babar Hayat, Nizakat Khan, Kalhan Challu, Kinchit Shah, Yasim Murtaza (capt), Aizaz Khan, Ayush Shukla, Ateeq Iqbal, and Ehsan Khan.
