Scotland vs Hong Kong 2nd ODI Prediction

Nizakat Khan seems to be undergoing a good phase in his career. He made 94 against Scotland in January, got a fifty and a century in the respective innings of the recently played four-day match against Ireland, then top-scored in the following T20I and now top-scored again in the first ODI with 43 runs off 26 balls. He is a vital cog in their batting lineup and a top contender to score the most runs for Hong Kong again. Aside from him, good scores can also be expected from Babar Hayat and Anshuman Rath.

Tanwir Afzal, Aizaz Khan and Nadeem Ahmed have delivered impressive performances with the ball on this tour, and these three are going to be Hong Kong's best bet to derail the Scottish innings. Afzal was the most expensive of all the bowlers in the last match and we expect him to come back strongly in this match. Ahmed was the most economical bowler and the spinner is more likely to bag the best bowling figures. Scotland will also be wary of Aizaz Khan who took three wickets in the T20I against Ireland and two important wickets in the last match. 

Our Prediction

Both teams would have felt that they had a chance to win the other day before the match was called off due to insufficient light. It was a very close contest and the two sides will be equally confident ahead of their second meeting.

However, Scotland will know that they need to work more on cashing in on the good starts as they managed to score only 54 in the final ten overs after having scored 99 off the first ten. Hong Kong too will have to be careful on not becoming over-dependent on Nizakat Khan and they will be needing contributions from other batsmen as well.

Scotland and Hong Kong appeared evenly matched on Thursday. But we still feel that the latter are better placed to win the second ODI and take the series 1-0, provided the weather stays clear.