Sediqullah Atal and Azmatullah Omarzai made blazing fifties while the bowlers supported them with a tidy effort as Afghanistan easily tamed Hong Kong by 94 runs to start their Asia Cup campaign on a winning note here on Tuesday. Once Afghanistan survived early jitters through Atal (73 not out off 52 balls) and Omarzai (53 off 21 balls) to make 188 for six, the result was locked.

The Afghan bowlers, led by Fazalhaq Farooqi (2/16) and Gulbadin Naib (2/8), completed the formality, keeping Hong Kong to 94 for nine. Their chase never really took off as Hong Kong lost four wickets inside the Power Play phase, to be left reeling at 23 for four. The scoreboard pressure was evident on them, resulting in two needless run outs of Nizakat Khan and Kalhan Challu. Challu came out a tad too much off the bowling off Omarzai, who hit the stumps before the batter returned to the crease.