Hong Kong qualify

Hong Kong qualified for the final stage of the Asia Cup as they beat hosts UAE by eight wickets on Wednesday.

Hong Kong will now go into group A, where they will face India and Pakistan.

Hong Kong won the toss and put UAE in to bat first. Their bowlers Ehsan Khan and Ayush Shukla ran riot in the opening overs as UAE were down to 47-4 within the seventh over.

But UAE skipper Chundangapoyil Rizwan scored 49 off 47 deliveries, and Zawar Farid scored 41 off 27 deliveries to help UAE reach 147.

Ehsan picked four wickets for 24 runs, while Shukla picked up three.

In reply, Hong Kong skipper Nizakat Khan and Yasim Murtaza brought them a brilliant start as they put together an opening stand of 85 runs in 65 deliveries. Nizakat was gone from 39 runs off 39 deliveries, but Babar Hayat came in and continued.

Murtaza scored 58 runs off 43 deliveries before getting dismissed, but Hayat, who scored an unbeaten 38 off 26 deliveries, and Kinchit Shah took them to an eight-wicket victory.