Once the top four batters returned to the hut contributing almost nothing, the Hong Kong middle and late-order batters did not have the technical nous or the patience to battle it out against the experienced Afghanistan bowlers.
Babar Hayat top-scored for Hong Kong with 39 off 43 balls, but it was not even a token fight.
Earlier, Atal and Omarzai helped Afghanistan tide over their top-order batters’ struggle against pace-off deliveries to reach a healthy total.
Atal and Omarzai judged the nature of the pitch to perfection, and played accordingly while waiting for their chances to free the arm.
The left-handed opener Atal began with a slew of boundaries against new ball in the Power Play segment once Afghanistan opted to bat first, but soon settled into a calmer tempo. He fetched his fifty, third in T20Is, in 41 balls, and between the 5th and 13th over, there was only one big shot a pull off off-spinner Kinchit Shah over mid-wicket for a six.
Shah deserved a special mention for tying up the usually hard-hitting Afghan batters with a series of under-cutters, that they failed either to read or work around for singles.
