Afghanistan Beat Australia to Win First Hong Kong Sixes Title

Afghanistan won the Hong Kong Sixes Cup final on Sunday, beating Australia by four wickets at the Mission Road Ground in Mong Kok to take the title for the first time. The win made Afghanistan the eighth different country to win the tournament, and it capped an unbeaten run across the weekend.

Australia batted first in the final and posted 115. Afghanistan replied with 119 for 2 in 5.1 overs, finishing the chase with five balls to spare. The margin sounds close. The chase itself was not. Afghanistan scored at more than 22 runs an over and never let the required rate climb.

Mir takes the final away

Imran Mir decided the final in a few minutes of clean hitting. He finished unbeaten on 53 off 14 balls, with seven sixes. In a six over match, one innings like that leaves the bowling side with almost no way back. Every over has to be defended, and Mir kept clearing the rope.

Captain Gulbadin Naib added 17 off 6 balls and kept the chase moving when a wicket could have slowed it. Australia did take two wickets. Patrick Dooley and Chris Green took one wicket each. Neither spell changed the direction of the game because Afghanistan kept scoring from the other end.

Australia had their own fast start. Opener Max Bryant made 44 off 14 balls, with four fours and four sixes. That innings set the total and gave Australia a score to defend. It was not enough once Mir got set, and Australia will know the final turned on a short burst they could not stop.

Road to the final

Afghanistan reached the final without a loss. They beat South Africa and Oman in the group stage, then beat Scotland by 21 runs in the Cup semi final. The semi final win showed the other side of their game. They could defend a total as well as chase one, and they carried that balance into the final.

Australia took a different path. They beat the United Arab Emirates by 53 runs in their semi final, a wide margin in a format where most games stay tight to the last over. That result put them in the final as a clear threat. On the day, Afghanistan handled the pressure better.

The Sixes format rewards nerve as much as power. Bowlers get few balls to recover from a bad over. Batters have to score from the first ball. Afghanistan handled both parts well all tournament, and the final was their sharpest performance.

Final day results across the draw

The last day settled every placing. Pakistan beat Oman by 18 runs in the Plate final to finish fifth. South Africa beat England by five wickets to win the Bowl title. Scotland beat the United Arab Emirates by 45 runs to take third place.

Hosts Hong Kong edged Sri Lanka by one run to finish seventh, the closest result of the day. India beat Bangladesh to finish 11th in the 12 team field.

Across the tournament, teams scored 5,451 runs in 24 matches. That total sums up what the Hong Kong Sixes is built to be: short games, hard hitting, and results that can flip in two overs. Afghanistan leave as champions for the first time, with the best record in the field and the player who owned the final.