Afghanistan opened their Asia Cup 2025 campaign on a dominant note as they thrashed Hong Kong by 94 runs in the tournament’s curtain-raiser at Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (9 September). This is Afghanistan’s biggest T20I win against Hong Kong in terms of runs.

Batting first after winning the toss, Afghanistan piled up 188 for 6 in their 20 overs, riding on Sediqullah Atal’s career-best 73* off 52 balls and Azmatullah Omarzai’s blistering 53 off just 21 deliveries. The duo added 82 runs in only 35 balls for the fifth wicket, changing the momentum of the game completely. Mohammad Nabi chipped in with a handy 33 off 26 balls.

Hong Kong bowlers had no answer to the late assault as Atal and Omarzai plundered 25 runs in the 17th over and another 24 in the 19th. Ayush Shukla and Kinchit Shah picked up two wickets each but could not stop Afghanistan from registering their highest T20I score against Hong Kong.

In reply, Hong Kong’s chase never got going. They were reduced to 22 for 4 inside the powerplay and eventually limped to 94 for 9 in their allotted overs. Only Babar Hayat (39) and captain Yasim Murtaza (16) offered some resistance. For Afghanistan, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Gulbadin Naib took two wickets apiece.

With this emphatic victory, Afghanistan not only opened their Asia Cup journey in style but also sent an early warning to the other teams in the competition.