ABOUT THE MATCH
Hong Kong will be facing Ireland in the second match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019. This Group B clash will be played on the opening day of the tournament i.e. October 18, Friday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Previously, Hong Kong and Ireland clashed at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground, Oman in Oman Pentangular Series, which saw Ireland defeating Hong Kong by 66 runs. Ireland occupies the 15th position in the ICC T20I rankings. On the other hand, Hong Kong is ranked 20th.
PITCH AND CONDITIONS
Weather at Sheikh Zayed Stadium looks good for this match and no rain threat is seen.
Toss Prediction
Ireland has a good record of chasing and has an excellent batting side. Ireland is likely to win the toss and elect to field first.
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF Hong Kong:
Nizakat Khan, Ahsan Abbasi, Kinchit Shah, Waqas Barkat, Haroon Arshad, Aizaz Khan (c), Scott McKechnie (wk), Shahid Wasif, Ehsan Khan, Kyle Christie, Nasrulla Rana
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF Ireland:
Paul Stirling, Kevin O’Brien, Andy Balbirnie, Harry Tector, Gary Wilson (c/wk), Mark Adair, Gareth Delany, Simi Singh, Stuart Thompson, George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin
MATCH PREVIEW
Hong Kong
- Hong Kong will surely depend on their batsmen as Haroon Arshad who scored 64 runs off 40 balls against the Netherlands in the team’s last game.
- Nizakat Khan and Shahid Wasif are two players who have been consistent with the bat.
- Ehsan Khan, Kyle Christie and skipper Aizaz Khan will make up the bowling attack.
- Ehsan has taken ten wickets in eight T20Is and the off-spinner is more likely to trouble the Irish batsmen in these conditions.
- Kinchit Shah will also try to make an impact on the match with the ball.
Ireland
- Ireland will expect their batsmen Paul Stirling, Kevin O’Brien, Andy Balbirnie and Gary Wilson to score runs for them.
- Paul Sterling, who has been consistent, scored 59 runs against Nepal in the previous match. Paul will be opening the innings against Hong Kong.
- Andrew Balbernie will also be among the players to watch out for.
- Boyd Rankin, George Dockrell and Mark Adair are the main bowlers of their team.
- George Dockrell took three wickets against Nepal and will pose a threat to Hong Kong’s batsmen.
PROBABLE WINNING TEAM:
We back Ireland as favourites to win this second match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 against Hong Kong.
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