Al Amerat: Ehsan Khan starred with his sensational bowling to help Hong Kong beat Singapore by eight runs in a thrilling opening match of the Asia Cup Qualifier, here on Saturday.

Set to chase a respectable total of 149 runs, Singapore fell short of the target and managed 140/7 in the 20 overs after right-arm spinner Ehsan bowled a superb second last over, bagging two wickets for just five runs.

Ehsan turned the tables as he dismissed Avi Dixit (19) and Surendran Chandramohan (12)  after Singapore were sailing towards victory as they managed 129/5 at the end of the 18th over.

Janak Prakash remained the top scorer for Singapore as he played a cautious knock of 31 off 32 while opener Aritra Dutta scored 29 off 16.

For Hong Kong, Ehsan led the charge as he returned the figures of 3/20 while Mohammad Ghazanfar claimed two wickets and Kinchit Shah made a scalp.

Hong Kong, on the other hand, put out a dismal start as they lost two early wickets before Kinchit and Yasim Murtaza combined excellently for a 65-run partnership. Kinchit top-scored for his side as he scored 34 off 32 while Yasim hit 26 off 28.

Haroon Arshad, however, played a late cameo of unbeaten 27 off 14 to help the team finish on 148/9 in the first innings.

For Singapore, Amjab Mehboob, Janak Prakash and Akshay Puri bagged two wickets apiece while Aryaman Sunil and Vinoth Baskaran made a scalp each.

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