Suryakumar Yadav put on a show with the bat in India’s 40-run victory over Hong Kong in the Asia Cup 2022 match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday (August 31).
Suryakumar arrived in the middle after the dismissal of KL Rahul in the 13th over and started smashing the opposition bowlers from the outset.
The right-hander was severe on both the spinners and pacers, notching up his half-century in just 22 balls. In the final over, he slammed four sixes against Haroon Arshad and eventually finished with 68 not out off 26 deliveries, including 6 fours and 6 sixes.
In the process, Suryakumar was involved in an unbeaten 98-run partnership with Virat Kohli, who scored 59 not out off 44 balls as the Men in Blue piled up 192/2 on the board.
After the game, India skipper Rohit Sharma showered rich praise on Suryakumar Yadav, saying that words will be short to describe his blistering knock.
"We batted pretty well to start with, got to a very good score. Came out and bowled reasonably well, we could have done slightly better with the ball," Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
"Suryakumar Yadav the kind of innings he played today, the words will be short. We have seen that with him every now and then. He comes up with such kinds of knocks. He just comes out and bats fearlessly which is what the team expects from him. Some of the shots he played today are not written anywhere in the book. It was very pleasing to watch. Shot selection was also crucial. We know he can play all around the park," he added.
Speaking on the batting order, Rohit said: "We have also informed the group about this (flexibility in the batting order) as well. Most of the guys are ready to take the opportunity and be ready to bat wherever required. That's the flexibility we need. We'll take those chances. We are going to try and use the right match-ups."
Coming to the match, India restricted Hong Kong to 152/5 while defending the total. Ravindra Jadeja starred with the ball for India as he claimed a wicket by conceding just 15 runs in his four overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-15) too bowled economically and picked a scalp in his three overs.
With this victory, India also became the second team after Afghanistan to make it to the Super 4s of the Asia Cup 2022.
(With ANI inputs)
