Asia Cup: Pakistan register easy victory over Hong Kong
Dubai, Sep 16 : Pakistan kicked off their Asia Cup 2018 campaign on a winning note by beating Hong Kong by eight wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.
Chasing a paltry 117-run target, the Sarfraz Ahmed-led side took 23.4 overs to register a comfortable victory, thanks to an unbeaten 50 by opener Imam-ul-Haq.
Pakistan lost their first wicket on 41 when opener Fakhar Zaman's fine edge carried to stumper Scott McKechnie off an Ehsan Khan delivery in the ninth over.
Imam and incoming batsman Babar Azam (33) then added 52 runs for the second wicket, taking Pakistan closer towards victory. However, Ehsan struck again in the 21st over to dismiss Babar, leaving Pakistan at 93/2.
Shoaib Malik (9 not out) and Imam then denied the minnows any further onslaught as they comfortably notched up the needed 24 runs.
Earlier, electing to bat, Hong Kong received jolts at regular intervals and could only manage to reach 116 runs before being bowled out in 37.1 overs.
Aizaz Khan and K.D. Shah were the top scorer for Hong Kong with contributions of 27 and 26 runs respectively.
For Pakistan, left-arm pacer Usman Khan picked up three wickets conceding just 19 runs while Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan bagged two wickets each.
Brief scores:
Pakistan: 120/2 in 23.4 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 50 not out,Babar Azam 33; Ehsan Khan 2/34) beat Hong Kong: 116 all out in 37.1 overs (Aizaz Khan 27, KD Shah 26; Usman Khan 3/19) by eight wickets.
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Man sets fire to gas cylinder on truck in Kerala's Kottayam, held
Kottayam(Kerala) (PTI): A 33-year-old man climbed onto a parked truck carrying cooking gas cylinders and set fire to one of them near Thalayolaparambu in the small hours of Saturday, police said.
The incident occurred around 12.30 am, they said.
The fire and rescue personnel soon arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire, averting a major disaster.
According to police, the man is suspected to be under mental distress as he claimed that he was walking from Ernakulam to his home in Marangattupilly here when he saw the truck on the roadside.
An FIR under sections 329(3)(criminal trespass),324(2)(mischief),326(f)(mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was lodged against him.
Police said that the man was formally arrested, but will be released on station bail as the offences he is accused of are bailable.
"His family is here at the station and he will be released to them," the officer said.
In the FIR, police have said that the man opened the seal of one of the gas cylinders and set fire to it with the knowledge that his act was dangerous to those living in the area.
According to the company transporting the cooking gas cylinders, it suffered a loss of Rs 2,300 in the incident.
