Afghanistan National Cricket Team vs Hong Kong National Cricket Team Match Scorecard: Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat in the first match of Group B against Hong Kong at the Asia Cup 2025 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan said the wicket looked good for scoring runs and a strong total would help the bowlers.
"We would like to bat first. It looks like a good wicket to put runs on the board, good total on the board will help the bowlers. In T20 it does not matter if you win the toss or not, but you have to give yourself the best opportunity to pick wickets in the middle period. It (tri-series final) is already behind us, we are well focused on the game today, even if we had won the final we would have focused on the game today and how to win. Just one change from the final - Darwish misses out and Gulbadin is back," he said during the toss.
Hong Kong captain Yasim Murtaza said his team wanted to bowl first and is ready for the challenge. He said he is looking forward to seeing how Kalhan Challu performs on the big stage. "We wanted to bowl first. I am happy to bowl. We worked hard to get here. We played good cricket in the qualifiers. As a captain I am looking forward to see how Kalhan Challu will do on the big stage," Murtaza said.
Afghanistan vs Hong Kong Asia Cup 2025 Match 1 Playing XIs
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sediqullah Atal, Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan(c), Noor Ahmad, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Hong Kong: Zeeshan Ali(w), Babar Hayat, Anshuman Rath, Kalhan Challu, Nizakat Khan, Aizaz Khan, Kinchit Shah, Yasim Murtaza(c), Ayush Shukla, Ateeq Iqbal, Ehsan Khan
