The winner of the Asia Cup 2022 qualifying match between Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates will join India and Pakistan in the tournament proper that starts on August 27.
Five days, six T20 internationals and it all boils down to the final match between United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong on Wednesday in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 qualifier. The result of the UAE vs Hong Kong tie will determine who will join India and Pakistan in Group A of the Asia Cup 2022. (More Cricket News)
Hong Kong’s eight-wicket win over Kuwait on Tuesday took them to the top of the four-team standings with maximum four points from two games. Hosts UAE are second in the table with two points from two games.
As things stand, Hong Kong have the simplest equation – win and qualify and join India and Pakistan in Group A of Asia Cup 2022. For UAE, Chundangapoyil Rizwan-led side need a win and ensure that their net run-rate (NRR) remains better than that of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong are having a NRR of +0.716 while UAE’s is +1.045. Hong Kong start favourites against United Arab Emirates as they won both the matches the two teams played against each other. Hong Kong played UAE first time in 2016 and then in 2019.
Kuwait too have two points from two games, just like UAE, but are third in the points table with a negative NRR of 0.421. Kuwait do stand an outside of qualifying but in that case need to beat Singapore by a huge margin on Wednesday.
Earlier on Thursday, Hong Kong raced to the top of the table with a eight-wicket thrashing of Kuwait at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground. Batting first, Kuwait were reeling at 57/6 at one stage before a fighting 56 from Edson Silva lifted them to 151/9 in 20 overs.
In reply, Yasim Murtaza (46) Nizakat Khan (50) and Babar Hayat (53 not out) all contributed as Hong Kong overhauled the target in 17.4 overs. The Asia Cup 2022 starts on August 27 with Sri Lanka facing Afghanistan in the opening fixture.
The much-awaited India vs Pakistan clash is a day later at the Dubai International Stadium. India will play the qualifying team on August 31 while Pakistan face the same on September 2. The Asia Cup was originally scheduled to take place in 2022 but had to be postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Sri Lanka was due to host the rescheduled tournament but with the economic and political crisis going in the island country, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) shifted the six-team competition to the United Arab Emirates.
However, Sri Lanka Cricket remains as the host of the tournament. Started in 1984, the Asia Cup used to be played in ODI format until 2016 when the tournament was played for the first time in the shortest format of the game – as a preparation for the T20 World Cup a month after.
The Asia Cup 2022 will be the second time the competition will be played in T20 format – once again seen a pre-cursor to the T20 World Cup in Australia later in the year.
All the qualifying matches will be telecast live on Star Sports Network. And live streaming of the Asia Cup 2022 qualifiers will be available on Disney+ Hostar.