Hong Kong defeat UAE to qualify for Asia Cup

Hong Kong remained unbeaten throughout the Asia Cup Qualifier 2022 and sealed the only remaining berth at the main event alongside the five Asian Full Members - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

They started their campaign by defeating Singapore by eight runs and then got the better of Kuwait by a margin of eight wickets. On Wednesday, they defeated the United Arab Emirates by eight wickets and made it through to the main stage.

Chasing 148 to win, Hong Kong reached their target with an over to spare with Yasim Murtaza top scoring on 58. The 31-year-old Murtaza made his runs off 43 balls and smashed seven boundaries and one six.

But it was 37-year-old spinner Ehsan Khan who was named man of the match for his 4/24 in his four overs as the brakes were applied to the UAE innings. He removed both of the Gulf team's top scorers, skipper Chundangapoyil Rizwan (49), who was smartly stumped by Manchester-born wicketkeeper Scott McKechnie, and Zawar Farid (41).

The Asia Cup gets underway on Saturday with India, Pakistan and Hong Kong drawn in Group A, while Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are in Group B. Hong Kong will start their campaign against India on August 31 in Dubai.

(With inputs from AFP)