Oman 180 (Jatinder 42, Nadeem 3-27) beat Hong Kong 175 for 7 (Hayat 122) by five runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
File photo – Babar Hayat struck nine fours and seven sixes in his 60-ball 122 © ICC
A 60-ball 122 from Babar Hayat carried Hong Kong to the threshold of their 181-run target but Oman managed to stave them off and seal a five-run win on their Asia Cup debut. Hayat’s 122 was the fourth-highest score in all T20Is. The innings, which included nine fours and seven sixes, carried Hong Kong almost single-handedly through their chase: the next highest score was Aizaz Khan’s 15.
Hong Kong’s situation seemed desperate when Aizaz was sixth out in the 17th over, with 48 needed from the last 21 balls. But Hayat smashed four sixes in the 18th over, bowled by the left-arm spinner Zeeshan Maqsood, to bring the equation down to 18 from 12 balls. But the momentum swung back in Oman’s favour after a tight 19th over in which Bilal Khan conceded only three runs, and Hayat fell in the final over, going for a big hit with 11 needed from the last three balls.
There was a controversial moment in the ninth over of Hong Kong’s innings, when Aamir Kaleem spotted Mark Chapman backing up too far and Mankaded him. At that point, Hong Kong were 77 for 3 with Hayat already on 57. The wickets of Nizakat Khan and Tanwir Afzal, coming close on the heels of Chapman’s dismissal, set back their momentum considerably.
Having chosen to bat, Oman’s innings got off to a solid start thanks to Jatinder Singh (42 off 35 balls), who added 34 with opening partner Zeeshan and 41 with No. 3 Vaibhav Wategaonkar to move them to a solid 75 for 1 at the 10-over mark. Left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed dismissed both Jatinder and Wategaonkar in the 11th over, but every member of Oman’s middle order chipped in to ensure there was no loss of momentum. Adnan Ilyas (23) and Aamir Kaleem (19) were dismissed in quick succession after putting on 38 for the fourth wicket, before Mehran Khan (28* off 16) and Amir Ali (32* off 13) gave the innings an explosive finish, adding an unbroken 50 runs for the sixth wicket, off just 24 balls.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo