The eighth game of the 2023 Asian Games men's cricket competition features Hong Kong and Japan -- two teams that are both coming off wins against Cambodia in their respective opening matches. While Hong Kong beat Cambodia comprehensively, registering a nine-wicket win, Japan had to battle it out before prevailing in a thriller. In the virtual knockout, Hong Kong defeated Japan by 5 wickets with 7 balls remaining in the match. S Rana and other batters of Hong Kong performed well. Catch the detailed highlights of the HKG vs JPN, Group B match here (Scorecard | Full Coverage | Cricket News)
Hong Kong Won by 5 wickets
S Rana scored 36*(18) with 4 fours and 2 sixes and took the match to the deep and finished the things. Hong Kong had been a very impressive side throughout the match.
HK - 133/5 (18.5)
Hong Kong nearing the target!
Hong Kong is not making any haste in reaching the target as HK still needs 40 runs in 36 balls. Mathur and Rana are taking the innings closer to the end with the target in their mind.
HK - 88/3 (14)
Hong Kong going good
Hong Kong are going slowly and steadily towards the target. With the loss of 1 wicket of Muhammad Khan 18(16), batters Babar Hayat and Nizakat Khan are going further.
HK - 35/1 (6)
Hong Kong starts well
Nizakat Khan and Muhammad Khan starts the chase for Hong Kong. Takahashi is the bowler from the Japanese side.
HK - 7/0 (1)
Hong Kong Starts Chase!
Target for Hong Kong - 128 runs in 20 overs
Japanese batting collapses
Japanese batters kept falling like a deck of cards after the departure of Yamamoto-Lake and Kadowaki-Fleming. Any batter hardly looked in control apart from the top order. Hong Kong bowlers did well. Anas Khan and Ayush Shukla both claimed two wickets and bowled economically.
JPN - 127/10 (19)
Japan stumbles after a good start
After Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake 60(36) got out, the Japanese batting order started to stumble. Captain Kadowaki-Fleming 32(25) tried to make quick runs in between but Hong Kong bowlers did not give much chance to capitalise.
JPN - 116/6 (15)
Japan going good
Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake and Alex Patmore's partnership gave Japan momentum and Yamamoto-Lake's half-century 54*(32) is putting Japan in a favourable position at the moment. Captain Kadowaki-Fleming is on the crease with him after the wicket of Alex Patmore 7(13).
JPN - 69/1 (8)
Japan innings starts
Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake and Alex Patmore opened for the Japanese batting order. Ayush Shukla with his first over concede 9 runs. Japan is off to a good start.
JPN - 9/0 (1)
Hong Kong have won the toss and have opted to field
Japan (Playing XI): Lachlan Lake, Alexander Patmore(w), Kendel Fleming(c), Ibrahim Takahashi, Wataru Miyauchi, Reo Sakurano Thomas, Declan Suzuki, Shogo Kimura, Makoto Taniyama, Kohei Kubota, Ryan Drake
Hong Kong (Playing XI): Nizakat Khan(c), Muhammad Khan(w), Babar Hayat, Akbar Khan, Anas Khan, Ehsan Khan, Shiv Mathur, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Niaz Ali, Nasrulla Rana, Ayush Shukla
Squads
Japan: Reo Sakurano, Ibrahim Takahashi, Tsuyoshi Takada, Lachlan Lake, Kendel Kadowaki Fleming, Makoto Taniyama, Sabaorish Ravichandran, Declan Suzuki, Supun Navaratne, Alex Patmore, Wataru Miyauchi, Muneeb Siddique, Kohei Kubota, Ryan Drake, Piyush Kumbhare
Hong Kong: Babar Hayat, Muhammad Khan, Hamed Khan, Shiv Mathur, Nizakat Khan, Akbar Khan, Anas Khan, Niaz Ali, Ehsan Khan, Shahid Wasif, Nasrulla Rana, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Ayush Shukla, Mohammad Hassan Khan, Adil Mehmood
The group stage features nine teams in three groups -- The Maldives, Mongolia and Nepal (Group A); Cambodia, Hong Kong and Japan (Group B); Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand (Group C). The three group toppers and one best second-placed team will proceed to the knockouts, where they will be joined by the continent's cricket heavyweights -- India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Cricket was inducted into the Asian Games roster in 2010, at the Guangzhou Games. This was more than a decade after the sport last featured in a major multi-sport event at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. In Guangzhou, Bangladesh prevailed over Afghanistan to annex the gold medal, while Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in the bronze play-off. Four years hence, Sri Lanka won against Afghanistan in the Incheon gold medal match, while Bangladesh set aside Hong Kong to take home the bronze.
