Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka plays a shot.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Dubai International Cricket Stadium had transformed from a cauldron to a sparsely filled colosseum in a matter of 24 hours, but there was no reversing Hong Kong’s winless streak in Asia Cups across formats as Sri Lanka consigned it to a four-wicket defeat here on Monday.
An error-strewn performance, which saw Hong Kong spill six catches, was perfectly summed up in the 13th over of Sri Lanka’s chase. Kusal Perera was dropped twice and Pathum Nissanka rubbed salt into Hong Kong’s wounds by pulling medium-pacer Ayush Shukla for two successive fours.
When Nissanka was reprieved at deep midwicket in the next over, which brought three more fours, the Hong Kong fielders would have wanted to dig a hole and hide. A reverse-sweep for six from Perera off the first ball of the 15th over brought Sri Lanka’s equation down to run-a-ball with 35 needed.
However, Sri Lanka was in the mood to give its fans a rousing finish as it lost four wickets for eight runs in a period of mindless batting, which started with Nissanka’s run out.
With 22 runs needed off 16 balls, a front-foot no-ball from skipper Yasim Murtaza handed Sri Lanka the advantage again.
Wanindu Hasaranga took a full toll on the resultant free hit, smashing it for a six down the ground and easing Lankan nerves, before guiding his team home with back-to-back fours.
Earlier, Hong Kong rode on Anshuman Rath’s 48 and Nizakat Khan’s unbeaten 52 to reach 149 for four, but it wasn’t enough to avoid its 14th consecutive defeat in the tournament.
The scores: Hong Kong 149/4 in 20 overs (Anshuman Rath 48, Nizakat Khan 52 n.o., Dushmantha Chameera 2/29) lost to Sri Lanka 153/6 in 18.5 overs (Pathum Nissanka 68, Yasim Murtaza 2/37). Toss: Sri Lanka; PoM: Nissanka.
Published – September 16, 2025 12:14 am IST