So close, but so far.

Hong Kong shocked the world, won the hearts of all those watching, and took the game to the very last ball, but they could not beat India, falling just 27 runs short of what would have been the greatest upset in ODI history. They displayed great skill and great heart, and made their country proud, but it was not enough to topple the 2nd best ODI team in the world.

A century from Shikhar Dhawan and a fifty from Ambati Rayudu lead the way for India, but HK bowled and fielded excellently -especially at the end of the innings - to restrict India to 285/7. A gettable score in good batting conditions. There were murmurs floating about during the innings break about if we were going to witness something special - and as it turns out, we did.

Nizakat Khan and Anshuman Rath were the stars of the show - breaking all sorts of records during their 174 run opening stand. Together they put on the first 100 run opening partnership for HK in ODI cricket, the highest ever partnership against India by an Associate, the highest ever partnership for HK in ODI cricket (breaking their own record in the process), and ultimately, the highest partnership of all time for an Associate vs a Full Member. The two of them lit up the Dubai International Cricket Stadium with some exquisite batting. Nizakat Khan lead the charge - after 9 overs he had scored 38 of HK's 47 runs - while Anshuman played second fiddle, content to rotate strike and wait for the bad ball. They ran excellently between the wickets, negotiated India's wrist spinners expertly, and rode their luck - Chahal dropped a tough caught and bowled chance off Rath, and several edges and miscues from both batsmen fell safe. Nizakat brought up his fifty in the 12th over, with a six off a free hit from Shardul Thakur, while Anshuman got to his in the 29th over, with a double to square leg. Together they scored 56 runs after 10 overs, 110 after 20, and 144 after 30. With every run, the tension in the Indian camp grew.

The stage was set for an improbable, against the odds victory. India had already gone on the defensive, spreading the field out and rotating their spinners. Chahal, Kuldeep and Jadhav slowed the run rate down, putting the pressure on HK to chase the game. Nizakat Khan began to exhibit cramping issues, as batting for over 2 hours in the Dubai heat took its toll. The Required Run Rate creeped up to 7. Something had to give - and it was Anshuman Rath, hitting the first ball of the 34th over in the air straight to extra cover. Out caught for 73. Kuldeep had struck, Anshuman was livid with himself, and Hong Kong were 174/1.

Suddenly, the momentum had shifted, and India began to apply the squeeze. Debutant Khaleel Ahmed had bowled impressively thus far, and in the 36th over managed to catch Nizakat out LBW as he shuffled across, dismissing him just 8 shy of what have been a well-deserved hundred. Babar Hayat struggled to pick Kuldeep, but managed to hit a four and a six in the next couple of overs to keep HK in the hunt. Chris Carter edged Khaleel behind first ball of the 39th, and one more Babar six later the equation had boiled down to 88 runs to win from 60 balls, with 7 wickets in hand.

That’s when India’s superior experience began to show. Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Babar two balls into the 41^st over, enticing him to edge a wide one to Dhoni, and he bowled brilliantly alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar to contain Kinchit Shah and Ehsan Khan. With 59 to win off the last 6 overs, HK had no option but to go for it, and that's when Chahal struck yet again. He nabbed two wickets in the 45th over, and effectively killed off the run chase. The HK lower order continued to battle valiantly, but 56 to win in 5 overs was always going to be a steep hill to climb, and they eventually ended their innings at 259/8, giving India a narrow 26 run victory.

Earlier in the day India had gotten off to a quick start - 44/0 in 7 overs – and the talk around social media was when, not if, captain Rohit Sharma would make another ODI double-hundred. Indeed several ‘experts’ and former players saw this game simply as a warm-up for India’s match against Pakistan, and many of them derided HK’s decision to bowl first as an attempt for the Associate to get more cricket in, and nothing else.

Ehsan Khan was brought on to bowl in the 8^th over, and just two balls in Rohit Sharma perished attempting to hit him out of the ground. Many a batsman have made that mistake, and Sharma was added to that list, his miscued slog caught at mid-off by Nizakat Khan. That brought Rayudu to the crease, and together with Dhawan they put on a breezy 116 run partnership in just 130 balls. Dhawan especially looked in great touch, frequently pulling and hooking the fast bowlers while batting without a helmet. The two of them played the bowlers on their merit, and Ehsan Khan and Nadeem Ahmed bowled superbly during this passage of play. Nadeem's figures at one point read 0/27 from 8 overs, and he finished his 10 overs for just 39 runs. The Hong Kong fielding was disciplined too, and so while the Indian batsmen looked comfortable, the were never allowed to run away with the innings – at 29 overs, India were 161/1.

Ehsan Nawaz finally got the breakthrough in the 30th over. Rayudu top edged an attempted upper-cut and Scott McKechnie took a brilliant catch standing up to the stumps. This brought Dinesh Karthik to the crease, and started a productive phase for India - the next 10 overs bringing 74 runs, and Dhawan his century. At 237/2 after 40 overs, India were set to launch.

Enter Kinchit Shah. The allrounder had already bowled 4 tidy overs at this stage, and his 5th would change the course of the game. A clever change of pace saw Dhawan smash the ball straight back to Kinchit, who couldn’t grasp a tough opportunity, but just 2 balls later he had his man - Dhawan top edging a wild slog to point, out for 127. Ehsan Khan got the big wicket of MS Dhoni the very next over, caught behind for a duck, silencing the crowd and sending the HK men into ecstatic celebrations.

Hong Kong continued to bowl, field and catch well, and an outstanding final 10 overs saw them concede only 48 runs and take 5 wickets. Kinchit was in the thick of it - his 5 overs in the death going for just 16 runs and yielding 3 wickets - and Hong Kong were set the gettable target of 286 to win in their 50 overs. This passage of play saw the boys go back to the dressing room filled with confidence, and it inspired what unfolded in the second half.

A bittersweet defeat. Hong Kong put on an outstanding performance in the field and with the bat and showed the world that they can compete at this level. Having recently lost ODI status, this performance demonstrated that we still belong here, and that Associate Cricket is at a higher standard than it ever has been. The team also won the hearts and imaginations of fans watching all around the world, with messages of support pouring in from every corner of the globe. The boys put in a performance that will be spoken of for many years to come, and for that, we are proud.

However, opportunities like this are not likely to come again anytime soon. With the upcoming World Cup being restricted to just 10 teams, it could be a long time until Hong Kong, or any other Associate, gets the chance to compete on a stage as big as this. Millions of people around the world cheered Hong Kong on as they attempted to beat one of the best sides in the world - and we fell just 27 runs short of making it happen. It could be a long, long wait until we get another crack at it.

With this loss, Hong Kong's Unimoni Asia Cup 2018 campaign has come to an end. We thank you all for showing your support, and we hope you continue to follow us. We have plenty of great cricket in store over the next few months, we’d love for you to be a part of it. GA YAU HONG KONG!