Asia Cup: Suryakumar dazzles as India makes it to Super Four

Circumspect Kohli comes good with an unbeaten half-century in Men in Blue’s 40-run win over Hong Kong

India finished its Asia Cup Group ‘A’ campaign with an easy 40-run win over Hong Kong at Dubai International Cricket Stadium here on Wednesday. With two wins in as many matches, India qualified for the Super Four.

India set Hong Kong a massive target of 193 which proved to be too high a mountain to climb for the minnows. Hong Kong managed to bat out the full 20 overs, but failed to mount a serious challenge.

With the game in the bag, the crowd got a buzz when part-timer Virat Kohli came on to bowl in the 17th over. Speedsters Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh had horror outings, conceding 53 and 44 runs respectively in their four overs.

After being put in to bat, India overcame an unusually slow start to post a good score. Suryakumar Yadav (68 n.o., 26b, 6x4, 6x6) turned on the jets when the run-rate needed a boost. The Mumbai batter was aggressive from start to finish, opening his account with a sweep four and ending the knock with four sixes off the last over.

A scoop six off fast bowler Aizaz Khan, in the 16th over, showcased his wide range of shots. Suryakumar went berserk in the last over, bowled by Haroon Arshad, smacking the pacer all over the park.

Suryakumar’s pyrotechnics helped India rack up 54 runs in the last three overs, which effectively put the total beyond Hong Kong’s reach.

While Suryakumar typified the team management’s diktat of playing an attacking brand of cricket, K.L. Rahul (36, 39b, 2x6) and Virat Kohli (59 n.o., 44b, 1x4, 3x6) were cautious to a fault. Rahul looked terribly out of sorts, failing to get the ball off the square.