In the third match of the Asia Cup Rising Stars 2025 in Qatar, Bangladesh ‘A’ faced Hong Kong, China. It was the first game for Bangladesh ‘A’, and they got started off to a bang with a record.
At Doha, Hong Kong, China posted a total of 167/8 in 20 overs. Chasing 168, Bangladesh did something that caught everyone’s eye. Opening batter Habibur Rahman Sohan started off with a bang, swinging hard, especially over deep mid-wicket and cow corner region. The field restrictions let him to it more in the powerplay, and the big slogs mostly came out of the middle of his bat, and even on occasions they didn’t, the ball did not fail to reach the boundary. Habibur reached his half-century in jusf 14 deliveries when Jishan Alam, his opening partner, was standing playing the role of a silent partner mostly.
Bangladesh posted 107/0 in the powerplay, and it was the best powerplay in terms of runs in Bangladesh ‘A’s T20 history.
Habibur Rahman Sohan kept things going, hitting the big ones through his natural slogs. Nearing 90s, Sohan slightly reduced his pace, and took singles more than before in his innings. By hitting a total of 8 fours and 10 sixes, Habibur Rahman Sohan reached 100* in just 35 balls. It was the fastest hundred in T20s by any Bangladeshi batter.
Interestingly, Habibur never got to bat in the match again. Captain Akbar Ali came into the crease, and with the net run-rate calculations in mind, started slogging similarly. He finished the game hitting 5 sixes in a row off Kinchit Shah’s bowling. The captain ended on 41*(13). Bangladesh ‘A’ successfully chased the target scoring 171/2 in just 11 overs.
Earlier, Hong Kong, China posted a target of 168 through the contributions of Babar Hayat (63 lff 49) and Yasim Murtaza (40 off 22). Both Ripon Mondol and SM Meherob picked up two wickets each.
