Women's Asia Cup: Hong Kong China Elect To Bowl First Against Unchanged India

(MENAFN- IANS) Dubai, Sep 3 (IANS) Hong Kong-China have won the toss and elected to bowl first against an unchanged India in the 2026 Women's Asia Cup Group A encounter at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday. It's also the first-ever Women's T20I clash between the two teams.

Seven-time winners India are looking to build on their opening 94-run victory over Thailand. While a dominant top-order performance powered India's win, they will look to put up a better middle-order show after suffering a collapse against Thailand's accurate bowlers. Hong Kong China enter the contest seeking redemption after an agonising six-run defeat to Thailand.

“We also wanted to bat first in these conditions. We don't have a target score in mind; we just want to go and play to our strengths. This pitch is tricky, and we don't know how it will play out. Hong Kong is playing well, and this is a good opportunity for us to play against them and gain some momentum,” said India captain Harmanpreet Kaur.

For Hong Kong, Alison Siu is set to play her 100th T20I game.“She's been a spearhead for our attack for many years now. Always making 100 appearances for your country is an incredible achievement. So, congrats to Alison, and we're happy to have her on the side always and hope she has a great game,” said skipper Natasha Miles.

After missing out on the previous game, Natasha said she and Iqra Sahar have come into the playing eleven.“We're going to have a bowl first. I think the conditions would suit that. Very confident with our batting lineup to come out here and chase down any score. So, let's make the most of these conditions.

“I think we've seen, as an average score, it's been about 120 -130. They're obviously a very accomplished side, so, looking at 140, 150, we've had a couple of chases like that this year. So, if we can keep them to 140, 150, it will be great.”

She also expressed excitement at playing against a formidable Indian team.“It's obviously a very exciting occasion. We're playing one of the top teams in the world. They're an incredible side. Obviously, everyone's very excited to see how we can compete against such an incredible side. I mean, taking in the occasion and enjoying ourselves, and hopefully we come back to the Asia Cup in the future.”

Playing XIs:

India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Nandani Sharma, Sree Charani, and Kranti Gaud

Hong Kong China: Natasha Miles (captain), Maryam Bibi, Mariko Hill, Joyleen Kaur, Marina Lamplough, Yasmin Daswani (wk), Shanzeen Shahzad, Kary Chan, Ruchitha Venkatesh, Iqra Sahar, and Alison Siu

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