Asia Cup 2018: Hong Kong skipper Anshuman Rath bemoans soft dismissals while batting against Pakistan

Pakistan won by 8 wickets against Hong Kong.

Anshuman Rath | Getty

Hong Kong skipper Anshuman Rath has expressed disappointment over his side's big defeat against Pakistan in their Group B encounter of the Asia Cup 2018. Rath felt that inability to counter opposition's bowling prowess and some really soft dismissals in their innings of 116 batting first, were the biggest reasons behind his team's loss by eight wickets. 

"There were lots of soft dismissals for us and 116 was not enough. It was a good wicket; credit goes to the Pakistan bowlers. Our off-spinners are top class, but we just didn't have enough runs on the board," said Rath during the post-match presentation ceremony. 

He further added, "I think early on it swung a bit and there was a bit of bounce. We got starts but we couldn't convert them. One fifty-run partnership is not enough to post a good total,"

While Hong Kong were substantially outclassed, Pakistan opened up their campaign like favourites do. They simply rolled past the opposition and finished off the target in just 23.4 overs with opener Imam-Ul-Haq scoring 50* off 69 balls. 

Pakistan Captain Sarfraz Ahmed is happy with his side's performance but seeks improvement | Getty

This is where Sarfraz Ahmed, the Pakistan Captain, hailed his side’s "complete performance" but reiterated the need to work hard on improving various aspects of their overall game before the much-anticipated clash against India on September 19. 

He said, "This was a complete performance by us. But as captain, I saw a couple of things that we will have to work on as well. For us to go the distance in the tournament, we need to get early wickets," and added, "Early on the ball didn't swing and we seemed alarmed by that. We have time to adjust to this before the India game." before signing off with, "It's good to win, but to win against India, we have to be at our very best,"

(Inputs from Cricket Next)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 17 Sep, 2018

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