Asia Cup 2025 Points Table: Afghanistan Beat Hong Kong In Opener | AFG vs HK | Points Table & NRR

Afghanistan got their Asia Cup 2025 campaign off to a great start by beating Hong Kong by 94 runs in the opening match on Tuesday, September 9 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Led by Rashid Khan, the team didn’t have a perfect game, as Hong Kong gave away a few easy chances and wickets.

But Afghanistan made the most of every opportunity and added to Hong Kong’s struggles. Even though they missed a couple of catches in the field, it didn’t matter much against a weak Hong Kong side. Sediqullah Atal was the star with the bat scoring an unbeaten 73* off 52 balls including six fours and three sixes.

The innings started well as the left-handed batter hit Ayush Shukla for a boundary, but he got lucky when Hong Kong captain Yasim Murtaza dropped an easy catch. Hong Kong came back quickly, taking the wickets of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran leaving Afghanistan at 26/2. Mohammad Nabi then helped his team with 33 runs off 26 balls adding 51 runs with Atal. They took singles and some risks to keep the score moving. Just when things were going well, Kinchit Shah took two important wickets, including Nabi, who was caught at long off.

The off-spinner struck again, taking the wicket of Gulbadin Naib for 5, leaving Afghanistan at 95/4 in 13 overs. Hong Kong took two quick wickets and slowed the run rate, but their fielding mistakes continued to hurt them. Atal got lucky again after scoring his third T20I half-century off 42 balls when Ehsan Khan dropped an easy catch at point.

Azmatullah Omarzai Registers Fastest T20I Half-Century for Afghanistan

With just four overs left, Azmatullah Omarzai went on attack, scoring his first T20I half-century off only 20 balls the fastest by an Afghanistan player. At the other end, Sediqullah Atal also started hitting boundaries, and together they added 82 runs in just 35 balls. Their explosive partnership, helped by more dropped catches pushed Afghanistan to 188/6 in 20 overs.

Hong Kong’s Chase Collapses Early

Hong Kong’s chase never really got going. Opener Anshuman Rath was out without even using DRS, even though it looked like he had a chance. Zeeshan Ali (5 off 6) was soon dismissed by Azmatullah Omarzai, and Nizakat Khan (0) and Kalhan Challu (4 off 8) were run out, leaving Hong Kong struggling at 22/4 in just 4.3 overs. Babar Hayat tried to fight back scoring 39 off 43 balls, but he couldn’t keep up with the required run rate and was caught at deep mid-wicket by Sediqullah Atal. Gulbadin Naib (2/8) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (2/16) also picked up two wickets each as Hong Kong was finally restricted to 94/9.

Afghanistan started their Asia Cup campaign with a big 94-run win, also boosting their net run rate. But despite the strong victory, they will need to improve their fielding, as sloppy efforts could hurt them against stronger teams. Their batting was helped a lot by dropped catches from Hong Kong and without those chances, they might not have reached such a high total. The Rashid Khan-led side will need to sharpen both their batting and fielding as they move forward in the tournament.

Asia Cup 2025 Points Table - Updated (AFG vs HK)

Group	Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	NRR
A	India	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
A	Oman	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
A	Pakistan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
A	United Arab Emirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
B	Afghanistan	1	1	0	0	0	2	+4.700
B	Hong Kong	1	0	1	0	0	0	-4.700
B	Bangladesh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
B	Sri Lanka	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000

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by K D Mishra September 10, 2025