There was a contest between man and nature to see who was hotter and in the end, try as the elements could, they couldn’t match Azmatullah Omarzai’s fire. Even in 41°C heat, he burned brighter, scoring Afghanistan’s fastest T20I fifty and just kept going from there.

Omarzai was responsible for one of two blink-and-you’ll-miss-it run-outs, which coming on the back of a Hong Kong fielding performance that included three dropped catches, was cricket working a little too hard to highlight the gulf between the two sides. Full Member Afghanistan made 188 for 6. It was 94 too many for their Associate nation opposition.

Sediquullah Atal looked a real good player. Stood nice and tall in his set-up, seemed competent playing shots off both front foot and the back foot, and crucially, he was able to cope with the lack of pace in Abu Dhabi. He’s only 24, but already showing signs of what players more experienced than he are known for. The bit between the ears. Atal was 26 off 17 with five fours at the end of the powerplay when the other end had contributed only 14 off 19 balls with one six.

Hong Kong slowed Atal down with spin but were never able to capitalise on the pressure they created. Yasim Murtaza gave him two lives – dropping him on 4 off 3 in the first over, then on 46 off 38 off his own bowling and finally had to watch Ehsan Khan put down a clanger just after Atal had raised his third T20I fifty. A man who should’ve been dismissed in the first over batted through the innings to score 73 off 52.

Afghanistan were 119 for 4 after 16 overs. Hong Kong’s spinners – Murtaza in particular – provided a challenge that is rarely seen in modern T20 cricket. He pulled pace off the ball, going as low as 70kph at times to deny run-scoring opportunities. Kinchit Shah, bowling from the other end, got the wickets. The five overs they bowled between the 10th and the 14th yielded two wickets for just 29 runs.

As good as that period was for Hong Kong, it also brought Omarzai to the crease and he was so game aware. The fast bowlers returned in the 17th over and it was go time. The next 18 balls yielded 60 runs. Omarzai went 6, 6, 6 and 4 against Ayush Shukla to bring his half-century off just 20 deliveries. From the simple clear the front leg slog to the cheeky ramp past the keeper, the Afghanistan allrounder showed impressive range on a difficult batting pitch.

Hong Kong’s mishaps continued with bat in hand as well. They gave up a wicket for no reason – and one run on the board – when Anshy Rath was ruled caught behind but replays showed several inches of daylight between bat and ball. Zeeshan Ali, the non-striker, had seemingly persuaded Rath from challenging umpire Virender Sharma’s decision. Then they had to watch as Rashid Khan run out Nizakat Khan for 0 off 0 balls because he took too long to realise there was no run off a Babar Hayat hit to cover.

Two overs – and two dropped catches later, apparently Afghanistan were happy to give themselves a handicap – Azmatullah had Kalhan Challu run-out off his own bowling when the batter strayed out of his crease after pushing the ball down the pitch. The Hong Kong captain had high hopes for Challu at the toss, instead his wicket for 4 off 8 was a cruel reminder of the quality of cricket at this level.

Hong Kong went joint-second for most wickets (four) lost by a team in the powerplay in the men’s T20 Asia Cup. Only two of their batters got to double-digits. None of them managed to score at a run a ball. Their focus at 63 for 6 – had shifted to playing the overs out and they did that to finish on 94 for 9.

Brief scores:
Afghanistan 188 for 6 in 20 overs  (Sediqullah Atal 73*, Mohammad Nabi 33, Azmatullah Omarzai 53; Ayush Shukla 2-54, Ateeq Iqbal 1-32, Ehsan Khan 1-28,  Kinchit Shah 2-24) beat Hong Kong 94 for 9 in 20 overs  (Babar Hayat 39, Yasmin Murtaza 16;  Gulbadin Naib 2-08, Fazalhaq Farooqi 2-16, Azmatullah Omarzai 1-04, Rashid Khan 1-24, Noor Ahmad 1-16, )  by 94 runs

[Cricinfo]