Asia Cup 2022 points table: Ind, Afg, SL and Pak will play in Super four

Asia Cup 2022 Points table: Pakistan's all-rounding capabilities in the second match of Group A helped them get into super 4. Read this detailed analysis to know everything about Asia Cup 2022

Asia Cup 2022 has started and it would be interesting to see how giants like India, Pakistan and under-rated contenders Bangladesh would be playing for the trophy in 2022. While India has the best track record, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh have also been exceptional in the tournament. 

Also read | Asia Cup 2022: Hong Kong qualifies for main round, joins India, Pakistan

Though, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are the only cricket teams to clinch the trophy in 14 seasons of the tournament. The 15th season of the Asia Cup will witness Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Afghanistan as the other three participants.

After Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and India, Pakistan also qualifies for the next phase of the tournament. Pakistan defeated Hong Kong by 155 runs in the last match of group A. Hong Kong won the toss and opted to bowl first. Pakistan started slow, yet managed to get 193 runs in 20 overs of cricket. Muhammad Rizwan was the top scorer with 78* of 57. Fakhar Zaman's half-century and Khushdil Shah's quickfire 35* of 15 balls helped Pakistan set up a good total.

Chasing 194 against Pakistani bowling was not an easy task. Spinners dominated the match and bowled out Hong Kong for 38 runs in 10.4 overs. Vice-captain Shadab Khan took 4 wickets for 8 runs, Mohammad Nawaz also took 3 wickets, Naseem Shah clinched 2 wickets and Shahnawaz Dahani got 1 wicket.

Asia Cup 2022 Points Table: Group A and Group B

Group A
Team	Matches	Win	Loss	NRR	Points
India (Q)	2	2	0	1.096	4
Pakistan (Q)	2	1	1	3.811	0
Hong Kong	1	0	2	-4.875	0
Group B
Team	Matches	Win	Loss	NRR	Points
Afghanistan (Q)	2	2	0	2.467	4
Sri Lanka (Q)	2	1	1	-2.233	2
Bangladesh (E)	2	0	2	-0.576	0

 

Asia Cup 2022: Key moments

Match 1, Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka: Afghanistan defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets

Afghanistan Cricket Team looked exceptionally good with the bowl and the bat as they thrashed the Lankan lions with 8 wickets with more than 9 overs to spare. Fazalhaq Farooqui's 3 wickets for 11 runs and Rahmanullah Gurbaz's blitzing knock of 40 from 18 balls helped Afghanistan start their campaign on a happy note.

Match 2, India vs Pakistan: India defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets.

Indian Cricket Team managed a good NRR after defeating Pakistan in the first match of Asia Cup 2022. While chasing 148 runs in the second innings, Hardik Pandya emerged as the hero of the match. As India finished it off in the last over, Hardik Pandya was awarded Player of the match.

Match 3, Afghanistan vs Bangladesh: Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh by 7 wickets.

Afghanistan Cricket team has proved their mettle after qualifying for the next stage of the tournament. The Afghans looked dominant throughout the game and managed to chase 127 runs in the 19th over. Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman Zadran, Ibrahim Zadran and Najibullah Zadran delivered the match-winning performance. Mujeeb ur Rahman was awarded player of the match for bagging 3 wickets for 16 runs in his spell.

Match 4, India vs Hong Kong:  India defeated Hong Kong by 40 runs

India's batting lineup showed its full potential as Suryakumar Yadav scored 68* off 26 deliveries, while Virat Kohli also managed a 59* of 44 deliveries. India batted first and set up a target of 193 for Hong Kong.

In the second innings, Hong Kong tried its best but came 40 runs short. The top scorer of Hong Kong was Babar Hayat for his mature 41 off 35 deliveries. Indian seamers took 3 wickets, while spinner Ravindra Jadeja also dismissed one player. Suryakumar Yadav was awarded the player of the match.

Match 5, Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh: Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh by 2 wickets.

Once again, Dubai International Cricket stadium exhibited a nail-biting thriller between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Bangladesh scored 183 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the first innings. The top scorer for Bangladesh was Afif Hussain with 39 off 22 deliveries. Maheesh Theekshana was Sri Lanka's most efficient bowler with 1 wicket for 23 runs. Wanindu Hasaranga and Chamika Karunaratne took 2 wicket each.

While chasing 184 runs, Sri Lanka batsmen trembled a lot. While Kushal Mendis played a crucial knock of 60 runs off 37 deliveries, other batsmen failed to impress. However, Dasun Shanka, Chamitha Karunaratne and Asitha Fernando chased helped Sri Lanka chase down the total in the 20th over. Kusal Mendis was awarded player of the match for his exceptional batting.

Match 6, Pakistan vs Hong Kong:  Pakistan defeated Hong Kong by 155 runs.

Pakistan defeated Hong Kong by 155 runs in the Asia Cup in a one-sided match. Hong Kong won the toss and chose to bowl first. Captain Babar Azam failed to impress once again, while Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan scored half-centuries. Khushdil smashed four sixes in the last over to help Pakistan score 193 runs for the loss of two wickets.

Hong Kong came to bat and failed miserably against the mighty Pakistani bowling line-up. While chasing a target of 194, Hong Kong trembled in the first 10 overs and ended their Asia cup journey while scoring the lowest total of the season, and the lowest at Sharjah Cricket stadium. Mohammad Rizwan was awarded "player of the match".
 

Also, read | Asia Cup 2022: India vs Pakistan; Who has better chances of winning

Asia Cup 2022: List of Winners

Year	Season	Host	Winner	Runner-up
2022	15th	Sri Lanka	–	–
2018	14th	UAE	India	Bangladesh
2016	13th	Bangladesh	India	Bangladesh
2014	12th	Bangladesh	Sri Lanka	Pakistan
2012	11th	Bangladesh	Pakistan	Bangladesh
2010	10th	Sri Lanka	India	Sri Lanka
2008	9th	Pakistan	Sri Lanka	India
2004	8th	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	India
2000	7th	Bangladesh	Pakistan	Sri Lanka
1997	6th	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	India
1995	5th	UAE	India	Sri Lanka
1990-91	4th	India	India	Sri Lanka
1988	3rd	Bangladesh	India	Sri Lanka
1986	2nd	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	Pakistan
1984	1st	UAE	India	Sri Lanka

Also read | ICC ODI Rankings: Top 10 teams, batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders rankings

Asia Cup 2022: What is Net Run Rate (NRR)?

Net Run Rate (NRR) is some of the difficult yet important concepts in cricket and football. In cricket, NRR is calculated by the average runs scored by a team throughout the competition, the average runs per over conceded against that team throughout the tournament.

NRR is positive when a team scores faster than its overall opposition, while a negative NRR implies scores slower than the opposing teams.

Asia Cup 2022: Points Table Rules

Asia Cup 2022 will have the same rules as Asia Cup Qualifiers 2022. Given below are some essential rules of Asia Cup 2022:

1. The winning team will be rewarded with two points, while there would not be any points deducted for losing the match.
2. If the match gets tied, abandoned or ends with no result, both teams will get one point each.
3. When two teams will have an equal number of wins, losses or ties, NRR would be the qualifying factor.
4. The top four teams from both the groups, group A and group B will play thenext stage of tournament to qualify for the finals.

Asia Cup 2022 Schedule

Asia Cup 2022 will be played from August 27, 2022 and will feature 13 matches among six different teams. Though India are stll the favourites to win the trophy, there's more to this tournatment. Check out the schedule given below.

Date	Match	Venue
Saturday, August 27, 2022	Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan	Dubai
Sunday, August 28, 2022	India vs Pakistan	Dubai
Tuesday, August 30, 2022	Bangladesh vs Afghanistan	Sharjah
Wednesday, August 31, 2022	India vs Hong Kong	Dubai
Thursday, September 1, 2022	Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh	Dubai
Friday, September 2, 2022	Pakistan vs Sri Lanka	Sharjah
Saturday, September 3, 2022	Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka	Sharjah
Sunday, September 4, 2022	India vs Pakistan	Dubai
Tuesday, September 6, 2022	India vs Sri Lanka	Dubai
Wednesday, September 7, 2022	Pakistan vs Afghanistan	Dubai
Thursday, September 8, 2022	India vs Afghanistan	Dubai
Friday, September 9, 2022	Sri Lanka vs Pakistan	Dubai
Sunday, September 11, 2022	Final	Dubai

Read more | Asia Cup 2022: Groups, schedule, venue, team list and full squad

(Written by Zuhair Zaidi)