India survived a big scare on Tuesday and registered a nervy 26-run win in their Asia Cup 2018 opener after Hong Kong nearly pulled off the biggest upset in the tournament at the Dubai International Stadium. Chasing 286 for victory, Hong Kong fought till the very end and put India under pressure for most part of the second innings but the experience of the defending champions helped them prevail in the end. Hong Kong rode on Nizakat Khan and Anshuman Rath's record opening partnership to put in a brave fight but once the well-set duo departed, they fell behind the asking rate and ended up with 259 for 8 in 50 overs. India vs Hong Kong Asia Cup 2018: As it happened Nizakat top-scored with 92 runs while Anshuman made 73 as the duo added 174 runs for the opening wicket, the highest for Hong Kong in ODI cricket, which made India sweat a lot until 34 overs before Kuldeep Yadav broke through with the captain's wicket. Just 9 balls later Nizakat became debutant Khaleel Ahmed's maiden wicket in international cricket as the Pakistan-born batsman fell short of his first ODI hundred by 8 runs. It was the third time Nizakat got out in the nervous 90s. Meet Ehsan Khan, the Hong Kong bowler who dismissed MS Dhoni for a duck Those two breakthroughs tilted the scales in India's favour as skipper Rohit Sharma and the fans breathed a sigh of relief. The rest of the Hong Kong batsmen tried their best to keep up with the required rate but kept losing wickets and panicked under pressure. Khaleel struck again while Yuzvendra Chahal struck twice to take the game away from Hong Kong. Asia Cup 2018: Shikhar Dhawan slams 14th ODI hundred to draw level with Yuvraj Singh So close, but so far. Thank you to everyone for the support. Congrats to @BCCI for the win. We couldn't pull it off, but we gave it a good go. This may be our last ODI for the time being, but we've got plenty in store for the future. Stay tuned to find out! GA YAU HONG KONG! Hong Kong Cricket (@CricketHK) September 18, 2018 Chahal ended up with three wickets for 46 runs from 10 overs for India while Khaleel and Kuldeep took two wickets each as the Men in Blue collected two points from this Group A encounter and advance to the Super 4 stage. India will now face table-toppers Pakistan in a blockbuster encounter just 24 hours later at the same venue. Earlier, opener Shikhar Dhawan (127) smashed a brilliant century to set a perfect platform but some poor batting from the middle-order saw India posting 285/7 runs. At one point India 240/2 in 40 overs but after the fall of Dhawan, who slammed his 14th ODI ton, the other middle-order batsmen went to pavilion one after another, thanks to clever bowling by the Hong Kong spinners. Put in to bat, Indian openers Rohit Sharma (23) and Dhawan started the proceeding on a positive note, forging a 45-run disciplined partnership in eight overs. Rohit displayed some beautifully crafted shots but was soon picked up by pacer Ehsan Khan. His 22 ball innings included four boundaries. New batsman Ambati Rayudu (60) then joined Dhawan in the middle started punishing the bad balls. The duo played freely and smashing the Hong Kong bowlers all around the park to build a 100-run partnership. India win, but not before they were given an almighty fright by Hong Kong, who lost by just 26 runs. What a performance from them!#INDvHK LIVE https://t.co/E9VsZbcD4e #AsiaCup2018 pic.twitter.com/8H6FftjjDi ICC (@ICC) September 18, 2018 Rayudu and Dhawan completed half-century before Rayudu was caught by Scott McKechnie off Ehsan Nawaz in the 30th over. But unperturbed by the fall of wicket, Dhawan kept on playing the attacking game and completed his 14th ton. New batsmen Dinesh Karthik and Dhawan then played attacking cricket and in the process Dhawan gifted his wicket to spinner K.D. Shah. His 120 ball innings was comprised of 15 boundaries and two sixes. It was all going perfect, but after Dhawan's wicket, spinners attacked Indian batsmen and took wickets in clusters. The first one to go was M.S. Dhoni (0) and then it was Karthik. Kedar Jadhav (28 not out) along with other batters -- Bhuvneshwar Kumar (9), Shardul Thakur (0) and Kuldeep Yadav (0), however tried to pace up the innings towards the end but could not breach the 300-run mark.<doc-sep>Asia Cup 2018: Full Schedule & Results Date Match Details Result Sep 15, Sat Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, 1st Match, Group B Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai BANGLADESH BEAT SRI LANKA BY 137 RUNS Sep 16, Sun Pakistan vs Hong Kong, 2nd Match, Group A Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai PAKISTAN BEAT HONG KONG BY 8 WICKETS Sep 17, Mon Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, 3rd Match, Group B Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Sep 18, Tue India vs Hing Kong, 4th Match, Group A Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Sep 19, Wed India vs Pakistan, 5th Match, Group A Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Sep 20, Thu Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, 6th Match, Group B Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Sep 21, Fri TBC vs TBC, Super Four, Match 1 Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai TBC vs TBC, Super Four, Match 2 Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Sep 23, Sun TBC vs TBC, Super Four, Match 3 Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai TBC vs TBC, Super Four, Match 4 Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Sep 25, Tue TBC vs TBC, Super Four, Match 5 Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Sep 26, Wed TBC vs TBC, Super Four, Match 6 Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Sep 28, Fri TBC vs TBC, Final Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai The Asia Cup 2018, One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament is scheduled to begin from Saturday, September 15, 2018, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Before this, the United Arab Emirates had hosted the Asia Cup twice in the year 1984 and 1995. This will be the 14th edition of the Asia Cup. The Indian cricket team is the defending champions of the last edition.In the Asia Cup 2018, a total of 13 One Day International matches will be played and the final match will be held on September 28, 2018, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.Check here Asia Cup 2018 full schedule including dates, match venue, teams and results.<doc-sep>
Team captains at the unveiling of the trophy. Photo: ICC KARACHI: In an unprecedented move, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Tuesday tweaked its already announced schedule of the ongoing Asia Cup — apparently to please India, the host of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The ACC has released a revised schedule for the Super Four stage, as all four teams have been finalised. According to the Super Four schedule announced following Hong Kong's marginal loss, India will now play all the matches in Dubai regardless of the other teams’ position in their respective groups. Not only have India been given an A1 status before their decider match against Pakistan, but the ACC has also assumed that Afghanistan and Bangladesh will be B1 and B2, respectively. However, the latter two are yet to play each other in their group match after both won against Sri Lanka. According to the Super Four schedule, India and Pakistan will play Bangladesh and Afghanistan, respectively, on Friday to kick off the super4 stage. Initially, however, it was A1 vs B2 and A2 vs B1 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, respectively. Revised schedule for Super Four stage of Asia Cup. This means Bangladesh, who play Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, would be travelling to Dubai to face off India on Friday. Pakistan, on the other hand, would fly to Abu Dhabi on Thursday to play Afghanistan the next day, return to Dubai on Saturday to play India the next day, and travel back to Abu Dhabi to play Bangladesh on Wednesday. If they qualify for final, they would have to fly back to Dubai on Thursday to participate in the final on Friday. The bottom of the official tournament fixture schedule, according to a report in The National newspaper of the UAE, reads: “Note: On qualifying for Super 4, the host board [India] will play as Group A – Qualifier 1.” Even if that is to be considered, how can position in group B be decided before Afghanistan plays Bangladesh? It is noteworthy that an initial schedule, which was also available on the official website of the International Cricket Council (ICC), mentions the group winners and group runner-ups in the Super Four stage. Pakistan's captain Sarfraz Ahmed has also questioned the scheduling of the tournament. “Travelling is an issue, so if you travel for [90 minutes] during the matches, then it’s tough,” he said ahead of the game against India. “In this weather, it’s tough, and then after one day, you play another game. I think it should be even for all the teams whether it is India or Pakistan. "If there are matches in Abu Dhabi, then every team has to play there. I don't know what the Asian Cricket Council has done about it,” he had said. It is now up to the ACC to clarify the position on the scheduling of the tournament.