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Hong Kong made India work really hard before finally succumbing to the pressure and losing the match by 26 runs. At one stage it was looking as if Hong Kong would register one of the biggest upsets of the ODI history. It was expected that India would defeat Hong Kong easily and then the focus would shift to the big encounter between India and Pakistan.
Nizakat and skipper Anshuman put a record-breaking start adding 174 runs in 34.1 overs. But it was all in vain as the other batsmen failed to capitalize on the initiative. India’s debutant Khaleel Ahmed played a big role in India’s victory by trapping Nizakat leg before for 92 and then getting Christopher Carter caught behind for 3.
Khaleel and Chahal took 3 wickets each and the best Hong Kong could do was to make 259 for 8. The world reacted with a lot of encouraging words for Hong Kong and some word of caution for the Indian team.
Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma said that the tournament is all about learning and the team will learn from its mistakes. He also said “Not a lot of things went to plan. But to win the game is very important. We always knew it was not going to be easy. We had a pretty inexperienced bowling line up but having said that there are no excuses.”
Shikhar Dhawan
Dhawan said that he was working hard and following the process. His intent was to be positive and he had to be cautious on the slow pitch.
Anshuman Rath
Anshuman, the Hong Kong skipper praised his team but said that they had a golden chance to get a victory over India, something they will regret. He said, “They bowled well and bowled to their plans. We have had no pressure coming into the tournament and wanted to play with a smile on our faces on the big stage. We've done that and done ourselves proud.”
Harsha Bhogle
Commentator Harsha Bhogle also praised Hong Kong for their herculean effort and said that it was good for the Indian team to get such a tough test before the Pakistan game.
He was also impressed with Khaleel Ahmed and felt that Bhuvi hasn't recovered yet from his injury and isn’t ready yet for tough matches.
Ayaz Memon
Ayaz Memon said that India who won the match but Hong Kong won the hearts.
VVS Laxman
Laxman also praised Hong Kong and also reminded of the contribution of Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayadu and Khaleel Ahmed in the victory for India
Nikhil Naz
Nikhil had a funny take on how not having Sam Curran in their team hurt their chances of finishing the match for Hong Kong
Twitter also had some fun while showing the nervous situation India was in.
Harbhajan Singh
The Turbanator was impressed with Shikhar Dhawan’s innings and hopes that Shikhar plays well against Pakistan too.
Mohandas Menon
Menon presented Shikhar Dhawan’s importance in limited overs cricket very beautifully in a stat. Shikhar, in fact, is the 4th fastest cricketer to reach 14 ODI hundreds.
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