Litton leads the way as Bangladesh overcome Hong Kong

Bangladesh collected the points they came for, but not without a proper workout against Hong Kong in Thursday's Asia Cup clash in Abu Dhabi.

Litton Das led their chase of 144 with 59 while Towhid Hridoy contributed an unbeaten 35. Boundaries dried up through the middle overs, but Bangladesh found a way to win. Once Hong Kong's intensity waned, Litton broke free, going from 26 off 24 to fifty off 33 balls.

Hong Kong's second game in the Asia Cup, though, was far more productive than their first. After being held to 94 for 9 against Afghanistan, they posted a more competitive 143 for 7 thanks to Zeeshan Ali's 30, Nizakat Khan's 42, and a brisk 28 from captain Yasim Murtaza. But the 95-run third-wicket stand between Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy ruined Hong Kong's chances of an upset.

Bangladesh's win was their first T20I victory in Abu Dhabi. Hong Kong remain winless in Asia Cup matches.

Bangladesh's chase began with a glimpse of their new hitting intent. Parvez Hossain Emon raced to 19 off 13 before miscuing a slower delivery from Ayush Sharma to deep midwicket in the third over. Tanzid Hasan then fell in the sixth over, when he edged Ateeq Iqbal with Nizakat completing a sharp catch.

Hong Kong, guilty of four dropped chances in their opener against Afghanistan, held on to their catches on Thursday. But the damage came elsewhere: the extras conceded - 11 at the time and 17 in all - allowed Bangladesh to motor to 51 for 2 in the powerplay.

From there, Litton and Hridoy settled into accumulation. Between overs eight and 12, they failed to clear the boundary against spin and medium-pace, yet their urgency between the wickets meant the asking rate never touched eight an over. The pair ran 11 twos, while Bangladesh's total of 16 twos was their second-highest in a T20I.

In the heat, the constant sprinting drained them, but it also squeezed Hong Kong out of the contest. Litton shifted gears in the 13th over with two fours, lifting his strike rate from the low 100s to finish at 151.28. With only two runs needed, he was bowled trying for a big finish, but his job was already done.

Tanzim Hasan Sakib set the tone after Bangladesh opted to bowl. Bowling in the early 140kph range, he first produced a late-swinging delivery that snuck past Babar Hayat's defensive push and hit the stumps, before later dismissing Zeeshan with a rising ball that caught the splice and looped tamely to cover. He finished with 2 for 21 in four overs. Taskin Ahmed, though more expensive, provided timely support by removing Anshy Rath in the powerplay and Aizaz Khan at the death.

The spinners had their moments too. Rishad Hossain was initially not allowed to settle via the sweeps and reverse-sweeps, but he hit back strongly in his final over - the 19th over of the first innings - by dismissing Nizakat and trapping Kinchit Shah lbw off successive balls.

Even though their bowling was not perfect, there was enough to give them satisfaction and left them with enough takeaways to improve upon before their next game against Sri Lanka.

They started slowly, with a combination of early wickets and a sluggish start for Zeeshan and Nizakat keeping Bangladesh in control of proceedings.

But as the Zeeshan-Nizakat partnership grew, so did their range of strokes, and their 41-run stand for the third wicket ensured their batting didn't collapse like in the game against Afghanistan.

Their captain Yasim Murtaza looked briefly like the man who could change the momentum as he blazed to a 19-ball 28, but he was run-out after a miscommunication with Nizakat. Since the start of 2023 this was their 47th run-out in T20Is, and after Murtaza's dismissal, Hong Kong couldn't bring out too many big hits. Mustafizur Rahman was tough to put away at the death and Rishad's brave bowling meant there was a carousel of incoming new batters. Still, they scored 54 off the last six overs to post a respectable 143 for 7 - decent in isolation but not good enough on the day.