Sediqullah Atal’s brilliant knock guides Afghanistan to 188 in Asia Cup 2025 opener vs Hong Kong

Sediqullah Atal’s outstanding batting display powered Afghanistan to 188 runs in their first innings against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup 2025 opener. Read the full match highlights and key moments.

Sediqullah Atal (Image Credit: ACB)

Afghanistan batters put up a terrific show in the Asia Cup 2025 opening game against Hong Kong. The match started with Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan winning the toss and choosing to bat first. While the decision didn't seem to be good in the beginning, the batters helped the team reach 188 runs in the first innings. Sediqullah Atal started the game with a boundary on the very first ball. He continued to hit two more boundaries in the over.

However, Afghanistan lost two back-to-back wickets as the game went on. First it was Rahmanullah Gurbaz and then it was Mr. Consistent Ibrahim Zadran. After losing quick wickets at the start of the match, Sediqullah Atal and Mohammad Nabi formed a brilliant partnership and stablized the game for the team. Nabi scored 33 off 26 balls, including three boundaries and one six.

Atal was accompanied by Azmatullah Omarzai, who hit a quick-fire half-century in just 21 balls. He hit two boundaries and five sixes throughout his innings. Meanwhile, the rest of the batters were a complete failure. It was Atal and Omarzai's contributions that helped the team reach a good total. For Hong Kong, Ayush Shukla and Kinchit Shah claimed two wickets each.

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Hong Kong will have to keep a check on their fielding as well since they dropped five catches during the match. The fielders looked quite lousy on the field which is the reason why they gave away a lot of runs as well. Moreover, if we look at Afghanistan's performance, their batting has been brilliant today.

Hence, it will be interesting to see how they'll perform with the ball. As we write, Hong Kong have already lost one wicket in the starting overs and are struggling hard to form partnerships. This game will be get even more interesting as it progresses.

Also read: IND vs UAE, Asia Cup 2025 Match 2: When and Where to Watch?

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