Star batsman Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav hit half-centuries to help India move into the Asia Cup Super Four stage with a 40-run win over Hong Kong yesterday.
Kohli made 59 while Suryakumar smashed 68 off 26 balls as the pair put on an unbeaten stand of 98 to steer India to 192-2 after being put in to bat first in the Twenty20 tournament in Dubai.
Hong Kong were limited to 152-5 in reply as India registered their second successive victory to join Afghanistan in the next round of the six-nation tournament, which acts as a tune-up to the T20 World Cup in October-November.
But it was Suryakumar’s batting blitz that stood out as the number four blasted his way to a 22-ball fifty and finished the innings with four sixes in the final over.
Hong Kong, who made the main draw after winning all three of their matches in the qualifiers in Oman, had largely kept India in check before losing their way once Suryakumar started teeing off.
“Some of (my shots) are predetermined, because this format is about how you prepare when you go in to bat, but it’s important to stay in the present when you go out there,” Yadav said. 
“The pitch was a little slow, watching from outside, but my plan was clear. My role was to take the tempo up and express myself. 
“I think you’ve got to be flexible, you should be good to bat at any number. I really love and enjoy it,” he added.
The 33-year-old Kohli, who is going through an extended batting slump and made 35 in his team’s opening win over Pakistan, also got going to complete his 31st half-century in his 101st T20 international.
Skipper Rohit Sharma started cautiously before clubbing Hong Kong medium-pace bowler Haroon Arshad for two sixes and a four in a 22-run third over.
Sharma said: “We batted pretty well to start with, and got to a very good score at the end, and came out and bowled reasonably well. Thought we could have done slightly better with the ball. Honestly the kind of innings that Suryakumar played today, the words will be short. Every now and then, he comes up with such kind of knocks. With the confidence he’s got, he’s going to come out and bat fearlessly, and some of the shots he played today, they are not in the books. The shot selection was also crucial, we know he can play all around the park, and that’s what he did today.”
Spinner Ehsan Khan slowed the scoring and seamer Ayush Shukla reaped the benefits in the next over as he took down Rohit with a slow off-cutter. He made 21.
Kohli walked in to loud cheers from a sparse Indian crowd but struggled to play freely against a disciplined bowling attack which kept the runs down.
Kohli finally opened up to get a boundary with a straight drive off leg-spinner Mohamed Ghazanfar and soon found some rhythm as he hit three sixes in his 44-ball knock.
K L Rahul and Kohli kept the score ticking with singles and twos with occasional boundaries to put on 56 runs before Ghazanfar broke through with the wicket of Rahul (36).
Left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh struck early for India with the wicket of Yasim Murtaza but Babar Hayat countered with some attacking shots.
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will battle it out for a Super Four spot from Group B in a do-or-die match today after Afghanistan moved clear with two wins. 
Pakistan will take on Hong Kong tomorrow.