The Asia Cup 2025 will commence with a match between Afghanistan and Hong Kong. The venue is Abu Dhabi, where Hong Kong has a perfect winning record against Afghanistan in the T20I format. This information may surprise you, but it is accurate. Hong Kong plans to utilize a ten-year-old strategy in an effort to defeat Afghanistan.
Hong Kong’s Undefeated Record in Abu Dhabi
The match between Afghanistan and Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi will begin at 8 PM Indian Standard Time. Abu Dhabi, located in the UAE, is a favorable venue for Afghanistan, where it has a strong record. Afghanistan has won 11 and lost 5 T20 International matches there. Within those 5 losses, Hong Kong’s victory over Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi is included. Before the Asia Cup 2025, the teams played only one T20 International match in Abu Dhabi, which Hong Kong won by 4 wickets, meaning Hong Kong has a 100% win rate against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi.
Can Hong Kong Repeat its Victory with a Decade-Old Strategy?
The question is what the decade-old strategy is that Hong Kong will use to defeat Afghanistan in the first match of the Asia Cup 2025. It is based on the only T20I match played between the two teams 10 years ago, in 2015. Hong Kong might revisit the same strategy to beat Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi.
This strategy includes Hong Kong’s fielding and batting. They won the only T20 match played a decade ago through these two aspects. In 2015, when the teams faced each other in a T20 International match for the first and last time, Afghanistan batted first and scored 162 runs for 6 wickets in 20 overs. Three wickets were from run-outs due to sharp fielding. When it was time to chase, the batsmen chased down the 163-run target with 2 balls to spare.
What is Hong Kong’s Asia Cup History?
We know what Hong Kong did to Afghanistan in the Abu Dhabi T20 match 10 years ago. The key question now is whether history will repeat itself after 10 years. Hong Kong’s 21-year history in the Asia Cup indicates they have not won any of their 11 matches.