Asia Cup 2018: In-form Pakistan up against Hong Kong in today's match

Hong Kong and Pakistan have faced off in ODIs only twice - in 2004 and 2008 - so far with the Pakistan winning both encounters easily

In match 2 of Asia Cup 2018, Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Pakistan will lock horns with Hong Kong led by Anshuman Rath at Dubai International Stadium in the United Arab Emirates today. Favourites Pakistan will take this game as an opportunity to get familiar with the conditions while Hong Kong would like to put up a spirited performance. More than half of Hong Kong squad has Pakistani heritage, which would make this a special occasion for the team. Both teams have faced off twice earlier - in 2004 and 2008 - with Pakistan winning both encounters easily.

Check Asia Cup 2018 LIVE Scoreboard here

 
Check Asia Cup Match 2: Hong Kong vs Pakistan here

Pakistan Team News

For Pakistan, Asia Cup is the start of a busy season. Right after the multination tournament they will play home series against Australia and New Zealand, followed by a full tour of South Africa. Coming after an extended break, the team would like to start with a comprehensive win against the minnows. Pakistan's recent one-day international record makes for a rather interesting read. In their last three series, Pakistan has beaten Zimbabwe 5-0, been whitewashed 5-0 by New Zealand and then have beaten Sri Lanka 5-0. The trend suggests that once Pakistan are in the groove they are hard to stop. Pakistan has a combination of experienced players and young talented players like Fakhar Zaman who is coming after a fantastic ODI series in Zimbabwe where he finished as the leading run-getter with 515 runs. Meanwhile, Shoaib Malik the most experienced batsman in Pakistan line-up is also among the leading run scorers in ODIs with 7,015 runs.

 
Hong Kong Team News

On the other hand, Hong Kong has little to lose. They are returning to Asia Cup after a gap of ten years and with new skipper in Anshuman Rath at the helm, will be keen to prove a point after being stripped off their ODI status post a disappointing World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe. They have done well to reach the competition defeating sides likes UAE and Nepal in the Asia Cup qualifiers to make it to the final six. In Rath and Nizakat Khan, they have a solid opening partnership and with the experience of Babar Hayat and Nadeem Ahmed will hope to cause a few upsets at the multi-nation event.

 
Here is the playing 11 probables of both sides:
 
Pakistan playing 11 probables: Sarfraz Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Junaid Khan, Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali and Faheem Ashraf.
 
Hong Kong playing 11 probables: Anshuman Rath, Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, Christopher Carter, Ehsan Khan, Aizaz Khan, Scott McKechnie, Tanwir Afzal, Ehsan Nawaz, Nadeem Ahmed and Nizakat Khan.
 
Asia Cup 2018 Pakistan vs Hong Kong match details
 
Match Date: 16 September, Saturday
Match Time: 17:00 IST, 11:30 AM GMT, 03:30 PM LOCAL
Match Venue: Dubai International Stadium, Dubai.
 
Asia Cup 2018 Pakistan vs Hong Kong match live streaming details

 
Pool A encounter of Asia Cup 2018. Pakistan vs Hong Kong, will be broadcasted on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports Select 1 and Star Sports Select 1 HD. Pakistan vs Hong Kong ODI will be available for live streaming on Hotstar app. Tatasky subscribers can also live stream Pakistan vs Hong Kong Asia Cup 2018 match on Tatasky mobile app.
 
Pakistan vs Hong Kong: Weather condition at Dubai International Stadium
 
Both the teams have to cope with extreme weather condition as the temperature may soar past 40 degree Celsius during the short day period when the match will be played. The night will see temperatures at 37 degree Celsius. In the first match Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim went through cramp during his 144-run stint at the middle.

 
Pakistan vs Hong Kong Toss prediction
 
Both the captains – Anshuman Rath and Sarfaraz Ahmed— will to win the toss and bowl first. Since, at Dubai International Stadium team batting first won only 9 matches while team bowling first won 15 matches. But in match 1 of Asia Cup, Bangladesh showed that how taking early wickets can also help the team to win the match batting first.
 
Here is the squad of both the teams:
 
Pakistan Asia Cup Squad: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shan Masood, Sarfraz Ahmed(c), Shoaib Malik, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Asif Ali, Mohammad Amir

 
Hong Kong Asia Cup squad: Anshuman Rath(c), Aizaz Khan, Babar Hayat, Cameron McAulsan, Christopher Carter, Ehsan Khan, Ehsan Nawaz, Arshad Mohammad, Kinchit Shah, Nadeem Ahmed, Nizakat Khan, Raag Kapur, Scott McKechnie, Tanveer Ahmed, Tanwir Afzal, Waqas Khan, Aftab Hussain