A completely one-sided affair in Doha as Sri Lanka A cruise to their first win of the tournament, while Hong Kong suffer their second straight defeat and bow out of the competition. Sri Lanka A will now keep a close eye on the evening clash between Bangladesh A and Afghanistan A โ they need Afghanistan A to lose or Bangladesh A to go down by a big margin, for their qualification hopes to stay alive on net run rate.
or now, this is Pritam Dey signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Akshay Bhide who, along with scorer/analyst Sachin Yadav brought all the actions of this clash. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world. BYE BYE๐
Dunith Wellalage (Sri Lanka A Captain): "He (Traveen Mathew) is a great bowler and also, he bowls really well. Our overall bowlers did really well for us today. The wicket also helped us.
I have to do more for the team. But we are planning to take one by one game. We are trying to do ourselves better.
When we went to the ground, we saw some moisture. So, we were planning to chase."
Yasim Murtaza (Hong Kong Captain): "Credit goes to their bowlers. They bowled really well. We lost too many back to back wickets.
To be honest, I didn't expect so much spin today but credit goes to their bowlers. They used the conditions really well and restricted us to a really low total.
We will sit and plan for the next game and then see what happens for us."
Traveen Mathew (Player of the Match): "My coaches and captain trusting me for bowl first over. I think I did my best.
I'm very excited in that moment. But I trust myself.
My inspiration is Maheesh Theekshana. That's it."
Player of the Match: Traveen Mathew
5:43 PM IST, 3:13 PM Local Time: Thatโs it. Sri Lanka A grab their first win of the Rising Stars T20 Asia Cup 2025. They beat Hong Kong by seven wickets to stay alive in the competition. With this loss, Hong Kong have been knocked out of the competition.
On a sluggish surface, the Lankans restricted Hong Kong to 117/9. Chasing it, they lost Vishen Halambage (4) in the very first over. Lasith Croospulle (13) at three got a start but departed in the fifth over. Dilshan Madushka was joined by Nuwanidu Fernando as both started building a partnership for Sri Lanka A.
Madushka and Fernando pounced on anything loose and put 55 between them before the former holed out in the deep on 35 right after the drinks break. Fernando (47*) at the other end kept going strong and received good support from Sahan Arachchige (14*) as both remained unbeaten to take their side home in the 14th over with seven wickets in hand.
Hong Kong were asked to bat first and they got off to a disastrous start. They lost Zeeshan Ali (8), Babar Hayat (0) and Nizakat Khan (0) inside the powerplay. Anshuman Rath (21) and Shiv Mathur (26) tried to resurrect the innings but both fell on either side of the drinks break.
Skipper Yasim Murtaza (20) tried to hold the innings together but it was a real struggle for Hong Kong as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. A cameo from Ehsan Khan (17*) at the back end of the innings helped them get to 117/9 at the end of their 20 overs.
For Sri Lanka A, Traveen Mathew (3/21), skipper Dunith Wellalage (2/24) and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth (2/11) were impressive with the ball. Madushka and Fernando then stitched a wonderful partnership which helped them seal the game with seven wickets in hand.
Stick around for the post-match presentation.
OVER 14
Sri Lanka A
120/3
Sahan Arachchige
14(13)
Nuwanidu Fernando
47(27)
Ehsan Khan
0-34(3.5)
13.5 E Khan to S Arachchige
4 FOUR RUNS! Arachchige hits the winning runs for Sri Lanka A. Length ball around fourth stump. Arachchige gets down on one knee and nails the slog sweep along the ground as the ball races away to the mid wicket fence for a boundary. Sri Lanka A win by 7 wickets!