With a qualification event that continues through Wednesday in Oman, the Asia Cup 2022 in a sense gets under way today. All of the matches in that competition will be played at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground between the UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Kuwait. The victor advances to the main tournament, where they will face India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
The primary competition consists of six teams, split into two groups:
Group A is the qualifying team, Pakistan, and India whilst Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka make up Group B.
The top two teams in each group advance to the Super 4 round. The top two teams advance to the final game after each team plays every other team there once.
The first qualifying game looked fairly even on paper as Singapore played Hong Kong. Hong Kong batted first and registered 148. In reply Singapore burst out the blocks and were way ahead of the required run rate in the first six overs. However, they could not keep it up after Hong Kong regularly took wickets off of them to slow their progress. They needed 15 off the final over which was a bit too much for them – even when you throw in a wide. The star man for Hong Kong was Ehsan Khan with 3-20.
Kuwait play the UAE tomorrow.