That wraps up our coverage of this game. Do join us tomorrow for another double-header day in the Men's Cricket Competition in the Asian Games 2026. For now, this is Akshay Bhide, signing off, on behalf of my co-commentator Deepak Prakash and scorer Bishal Mandal. Until next time, cheers and good bye.
Malaysia with a comprehensive victory over Hong Kong. Malaysia were brilliant in all facets of the game and start their competition with a big win. Hong Kong will be hoping to bounce back when they face Oman next.
1:09 PM IST, 4:39 PM Local Time: That's it. Virandeep Singh finishes things off in style. Malaysia thump Hong Kong in their opening game of the Men's Cricket Competition in the Asian Games 2026. They grab two points by winning this fixture by eight wickets. Hong Kong have been completely outplayed today.
Hong Kong got off to a disastrous start after opting to bat first. Anshuman Rath was sent packing on a three-ball duck in the opening over. Babar Hayat fell without troubling the scorers in the second over. Pavandeep Singh wreaked havoc in the Hong Kong camp in the final over of the powerplay.
Pavandeep dismissed Nizakat Khan (19), skipper Yasim Murtaza (0) and Shahid Wasif (0) in a single over to reduce Hong Kong to 31/5 at the end of the powerplay. Shiv Mathur at four looked good at the crease but lacked support as Hong Kong kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Mathur scored 29 off 39 before holing out in the deep in the penultimate over. Hassan Khan Mohammad remained unbeaten on 13 as Hong Kong finished their innings on 81/9. For Malaysia, Pavandeep Singh (3/11) and Muhammad Amir Azim Shukor (3/12) bowled beautifully and grabbed three wickets each.
Chasing a modest total of 82, Malaysia lost both their openers in the second over. Nasrulla Rana cleaned up skipper Syed Aziz Mubarak (5) and Muhammad Haziq (6) in a space of three balls. Virandeep Singh was joined by Muhamad Syahadat Ramli and both steadied the ship.
The Hong Kong bowlers failed to build any pressure on the Malaysian duo as both kept ticking the scoreboard and took their stand past 50. Virandeep and Ramli remained unbeaten on 32 and 36 respectively as the 70-run stand took Malaysia across the line in 12 overs with eight wickets in hand.