World Twenty20: Hong Kong v Afghanistan

Hong Kong captain Tanwir Afzal is backing his side to respond to their defeat to Zimbabwe by beating??Afghanistan in the World Twenty20 on Thursday.

Zimbabwe inflicted a 14-run Group B??defeat on Hong Kong on the opening day of the tournament despite a brisk half-century from Jamie Atkinson.

Afghanistan beat Scotland on Tuesday to raise hopes they can reach the Super 10 stage??and Tanvir knows Hong Kong can ill afford another loss in Nagpur as they prepare to face a side they have beaten in two of the last games between the sides.

"We've played against Afghanistan two to three times in the last few months, and only lost the last game," said the skipper, who made 31 not out against Zimbabwe and took 2-19 in an impressive all-round display.

"I think we have room to work out our death bowling and we have the ability to bowl better at the end,

"We believe in our batting ability, and of course some days you can have an off day, sometimes you don't perform to expectations on the day. We have a few in-form players and I think they can deliver in the next game."

Mohammad Shahzad made a fine??61 as??Afghanistan made a winning start to the tournament at the expense of Scotland.??