DUBAI: Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott demanded improvement from his team after an unsteady batting performance in Tuesday’s T20 Asia Cup victory against minnows Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi.

Afghanistan were 95-6 in 13 overs before dropped catches allowed them to post a match-winning total of 188-6 after electing to bat in the tournament opener.

Opener Sediqullah Atal topscored with 73 but was spilled three times, including in the very first over.

“We were a bit fortunate with a few dropped catches that sort of let us off. We need to make sure we improve on a few areas for the rest of the group games,” Trott said after Afghanistan’s 94-run win.

“We’ve got a few days off now. We’ve had a hectic schedule, six games in 12 days. So this is a good win. An important game for us and glad we’ve won it in the style we have.”

Azmatullah Omarzai smashed 53 off 21 runs before they returned to restrict Hong Kong to 94-9.

Afghanistan were playing less than 48 hours after their loss to Pakistan in the final of a tri-series in Sharjah on Sunday.

Their next match is against Bangladesh on Sept 16 and Trott said their batters should take more responsibility going forward.

“For me, it’s important some of our players need to get in some form and need to start getting runs. That’s very important,” the former England batter said.

“I would like us to have batted better. But then the way Sediq played and the way Azmat came in and hit the ball showed us it’s a pretty good pitch.

“I’m fairly happy with the total that we got, but there are still things we need to work on and make sure we’re ready for the rest of the games.”

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2025