Asia Cup 2018: India scrape to 26 runs win over Hong Kong

Dubai - India managed to dig themselves out of the hole and a sense of normalcy was restored after all the madness.

India and Pakistan's duel in the desert has been the dominant narrative in the run-up to the Asia Cup.
It has consumed each and every one with minnows Hong Kong being just an afterthought. But on the evidence of Tuesday night, the Associates will be taken with more than a pinch of salt.
The tiny nation, southeast of China, gave top dogs India an almighty fright and were on course to creating one of the biggest upsets in cricketing history. But India managed to dig themselves out of the hole and a sense of normalcy was restored after all the madness.
India finally scraped over the line by 26 runs in their Asia Cup opener at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
That wasn't the case though when Hong Kong had rocked up to the crease for the 286-run chase. An early finish had seemed on the cards but the Hong Kong openers Nizakat Khan and captain Anshuman Rath showed intent with a monster century-stand.
There were more than a few furrowed brows as Nizakat and Rath chipped away at that target with a 174-run alliance. But once Rath and Nizakat fell in quick succession after making a top-notch 73 and 92 respectively, things slowly began to unravel for India.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan's 14^th ODI hundred, Ambati Rayudu, Kedhar Jadhav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar's return to the set-up and left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed's impressive debut had marked the highlights for India.
But the storyline well and truly belonged to Hong Kong as they made a bold statement that they can mix it up with cricket's elite.
Earlier, India were off to a flier but Hong Kong managed to rein them in towards the end to 285 for seven. Off-spinner, the 22-year-old Kinchit Shah will have a few tales to boast to his mates, after getting the scalps of Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, to his name.
So too would be Ehsan Khan, who got India's stand-in captain Rohit Sharma and former skipper MS Dhoni.
Dhawan ended his century drought with a 120-ball 127, with 15 boundaries and two sixes, his first since the 109 he had scored against the South Africans in Johannesburg in February this year.
Meanwhile, Rayudu seemed like he was never away despite spending two years in the wilderness. The 32-year-old, who brought himself back into the reckoning after a rocking IPL, was disappointed to miss out on the tour of England after failing the yo-yo test.
But Rayudu, who last played an ODI against Zimbabwe at Harare in 2016, struck his seventh half-century, a 70-ball 60 with three boundaries and two sixes.
These were auditions for the middle-order slots and India ticked a few boxes on the night. Rayudu had come in for KL Rahul at No.3, with the latter perhaps rested following a long-winding tour of England.
Dinesh Karthik was picked ahead of Manish Pandey for No.4 and the Tamil Nadu batsman made 33 from 38 deliveries with three boundaries. Injury returnee Jadhav worked off an unbeaten 28 form 27 balls.
The only thing, if you can call it a worry would be MS Dhoni. India's most successful captain and the only survivor from the 2006 squad that played here against Pakistan in the DLF Cup in Abu Dhabi, was out for nought.
Another worry would be Dhawan batting without a helmet for almost the entirety of his innings. The southpaw had relinquished the headgear when left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed, one of the flagbearers of Hong Kong cricket, had come on in the 13^th over.
Batsmen swapping a helmet for a cap, is routine when spinners come into play but Dhawan didn't have a helmet on when a fast bwler bowled.
Dhawan would count himself lucky as he managed to duck under a short one from Ehsan Nawaz in the 32^nd over.
With reinforced helmets assuming even more importance following left-handed Australian opening batsman Philip Hughes tragic death in 2014.
james@khaleejtimes.com

Minnows impress India R Sharma c Nizakat Khan b Ehsan Khan 23 S Dhawan c Tanwir Afzal b Shah 127 A Rayudu c McKechnie b Ehsan Nawaz 60 K Karthik c Babar Hayat b Shah 33 MS Dhoni c McKechnie b Ehsan Khan 0 K Jadhav not out 28 B Kumar c Anshuman Rath b Shah 9 S Thakur c Carter b Aizaz Khan 0 Kuldeep Yadav not out 0 Extras: (lb 2, nb 1, w 2) 5 Total: (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) 285 Fall: 1-45, 2-161, 3-240, 4-242, 5-248, 6-277, 7-282. Bowling: Tanwir Afzal 4-0-34-0, Ehsan Nawaz 8-0-50-1 (1w), (1nb), Aizaz Khan 8-0-41-1 (1w), Ehsan Khan 10-0-65-2, Nadeem Ahmed 10-0-39-0, Nizakat Khan 1-0-15-0, KD Shah 9-0-39-3 Hong Kong Nizakat Khan lbw b Ahmed 92 Anshuman Rath c Sharma b Kuldeep 73 Babar Hayat c Dhoni b Chahal 18 C Carter c Dhoni b Ahmed 3 KD Shah c Dhawan b Chahal 17 Ehsan Khan c&b Ahmed 22 Aizaz Khan lbw b Chahal 0 SS McKechnie st Dhoni b Kuldeep 7 Tanwir Afzal not out 12 Ehsan Nawaz not out 2 Extras (lb 4, nb 3, w 6) 13 Tota (8 wkts, 50 overs) 259 Fall: 1-174, 2-175, 3-191, 4-199, 5-227, 6-228, 7-240 Bowling: B Kumar 9-0-50-0; KK Ahmed 10-0-48-3; SN Thakur 4-0-41-0; YS Chahal 10-0-46-3; Kuldeep Yadav 10-2-42-2; KM Jadhav 7-0-28-0

• Asia Cup 2019