class svg :hover css fill not working correctly [duplicate]

Question

How can I cause this svg to fill when I hover? I looked at a fair amount of documentation and tried several ways but was unsuccessfully.

Here is my html:

  <a class="anchor-class" href="#"><svg class="svg-class"></svg></a>

And i have tried the following in my css

a svg:hover {
    fill: #50c8e8;
}

as well as

.anchor-class svg:hover{
    fill: #50c8e8;
}

and even

.svg-class :hover{
    fill:#50c8e8;
}

What am I doing wrong? I should be able to accomplish this with css, right?

EDIT: It might help to note that this image is being used as a background image. a little more detail in the css below:

.svg-class {
    background-repeat: no-repeat;
    background-size: 20px 20px;
    height: 20px;
    width: 20px;
    display: inline-block;
    .background-image('path.svg')
}

EDIT 2: Here is the .svg code, not sure that it is important though

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<svg version="1.1" id="Layer_1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"   xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" x="0px" y="0px"
 viewBox="0 0 100 100" style="enable-background:new 0 0 100 100;" xml:space="preserve">
<style type="text/css">
    .st0{fill:#E4E4E4;}
</style>
<path id="XMLID_154_" class="st0" d="M85.5,15c-19.5-19.4-51-19.4-70.4,0c-19.5,19.4-19.5,51,0,70.4c19.5,19.5,51,19.4,70.4,0
C105,66,105,34.4,85.5,15z M49.5,9c5.3,0,9.5,4.3,9.5,9.5c0,5.3-4.3,9.6-9.5,9.6c-5.3,0-9.6-4.3-9.6-9.6C39.9,13.2,44.1,9,49.5,9z
 M64.8,79.1c0,2-1,3-3,3H37.3c-2,0-3-1-3-3v-6.3c0-2,1-3,3-3h4.5V43.4h-4.6c-2,0-3-1-3-3v-6.3c0-2,1-3,3-3h17.2c2,0,3,1,3,3v35.7
h4.6c2,0,3,1,3,3V79.1z"/>
</svg>

Answer 1

UPDATE: with the svg code that you posted, you can do this behavior in this way.

Example:

a .svg-class:hover path {
    fill: #50c8e8;
}

.svg-class {
    height: 20px;
    width: 20px;
    display: inline-block;
}

<a class="anchor-class" href="#">
  <svg class="svg-class" version="1.1" id="Layer_1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"   xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" x="0px" y="0px"
 viewBox="0 0 100 100" style="enable-background:new 0 0 100 100;" xml:space="preserve">
    <style type="text/css">
    .st0{fill:#E4E4E4;}
    </style>
    <path id="XMLID_154_" class="st0" d="M85.5,15c-19.5-19.4-51-19.4-70.4,0c-19.5,19.4-19.5,51,0,70.4c19.5,19.5,51,19.4,70.4,0
C105,66,105,34.4,85.5,15z M49.5,9c5.3,0,9.5,4.3,9.5,9.5c0,5.3-4.3,9.6-9.5,9.6c-5.3,0-9.6-4.3-9.6-9.6C39.9,13.2,44.1,9,49.5,9z
 M64.8,79.1c0,2-1,3-3,3H37.3c-2,0-3-1-3-3v-6.3c0-2,1-3,3-3h4.5V43.4h-4.6c-2,0-3-1-3-3v-6.3c0-2,1-3,3-3h17.2c2,0,3,1,3,3v35.7
h4.6c2,0,3,1,3,3V79.1z"/>
  </svg>
</a>