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- Pakistan vs UAE highlights, Asia Cup 2025: Pakistan beat UAE by 41 runs to set-up clash with India on Sunday
Pakistan vs UAE highlights, Asia Cup 2025: Pakistan beat UAE by 41 runs to set-up clash with India on Sunday
The match began an hour late after Pakistan reportedly threatened a pull-out following the recent handshake controversy in their previous game against India. Eventually, Salman Agha’s team backed down and showed up to play — and they made their presence felt.
Batting first, Pakistan stumbled early and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Apart from a fluent 50 off 36 balls from Fakhar Zaman, the top order faltered again. However, Shaheen Afridi’s explosive unbeaten 29 off 14 balls gave the innings late momentum, lifting them from a precarious position to a fighting total of 146/9.
For Associate teams, chasing anything over 130 against a Test-playing nation can be daunting, and UAE’s reply never really got going. They were bundled out for 105 in 17.4 overs, with Afridi proving unplayable in his fiery spell of 2/16. He bowled Alishan Sharafu (12) off an inside edge, while UAE captain Muhammad Waseem (14) perished to a sharp leg-break from Abrar Ahmed (2/13), brilliantly caught by Mohammad Nawaz running backwards.
Saim Ayub (1/18) — who has more wickets than runs in the tournament so far — bowled Muhammad Zohaib with a skiddy straight delivery, and despite a fighting 35 from Rahul Chopra, UAE were never in contention as the asking rate spiralled.
Earlier, UAE’s bowlers impressed for most of the innings. Pacer Junaid Siddique (4/18) and Ludhiana-born left-arm spinner Simranjeet Singh (3/26) bowled superbly to reduce Pakistan to 88/5, with Simranjeet even celebrating one dismissal with a ‘Sidhu Moosewala’ style thigh slap. The surface slowed in the middle overs, gripping and stopping on batters, which made shot-making tough.
But Afridi’s late surge took Pakistan close to 150, a total that ultimately proved out of reach for UAE.
With this win, Pakistan have sealed their place in the Super 4s, setting up a high-voltage rematch with India on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium.
Muhammad Rohid to Sahibzada Farhan, WIDE! But a huge appeal for caught behind, from Rohid and the keeper! There was some sound, maybe off the thigh pad. The timer runs out and UAE do not opt for the review. Angling down leg, on a fuller length, Sahibzada Farhan misses to flick and the keeper dives to collect it to his left. UltraEdge later shows that the ball indeed grazed his front pad on the way to the keeper.
Muhammad Rohid to Sahibzada Farhan, BEATEN! Seam-up delivery, angled across off and nipping away. Farhan casually throws the bat away from his body, without moving his feet much, and is beaten on the outside edge.
Muhammad Rohid to Sahibzada Farhan, On a hard length, outside off, punched solidly to cover.
Muhammad Rohid to Sahibzada Farhan, On a good length, at the pads, Sahibzada Farhan misses to glance off the pads, and the ball deflects from the thigh pad and runs behind to deep fine leg. Two leg byes taken.
Muhammad Rohid to Sahibzada Farhan, Swings away from the batter, on a good length, left alone.
Muhammad Rohid to operate from the far end.
Junaid Siddique strikes, Saim Ayub falls for a duck. Short and outside off from Junaid. Ayub tries to slash this hard. He gets a thick outside edge. Muhammad Rohid Khan takes an easy catch at third man. Junaid is celebrating. Ayub is gone for a duck for the third consecutive time.
PAKISTAN 3/1 in 0.5 over vs UAE
- Fakhar Zaman 0 (1)
- Sahibzada Farhan 2 (3)
Junaid Siddique to Fakhar Zaman, On a good length, around middle, Fakhar plays from the crease and nudges it with soft hands to square leg. A very successful opening over for United Arab Emirates. Pakistan are 3/1.
Fakhar Zaman is in at 3 for Pakistan!
Junaid Siddique to Saim Ayub, OUT! IN THE AIR AND GONE! CAUGHT! Another duck for Saim Ayub and his lean patch with the bat in this Asia Cup continues. Junaid Siddique slams the deck hard, outside off, and it skids through the surface, hurrying the southpaw on the back foot. Saim Ayub just throws his bat away from his body, and gets a thick outside edge. The ball flies straight towards the fielder at deep third where Muhammad Rohid takes a clean catch. Saim Ayub got out on a ball outside the off stump against India, and this is more or less the same kind of dismissal for him as he is fed in his vulnerable zone. He departs for 0 (2) and Pakistan are 3/1.
Junaid Siddique to Saim Ayub, Around off and full, at 137 kph, Saim Ayub confidently knocks this to mid off.
Junaid Siddique to Sahibzada Farhan, On a good length, around middle and leg. Sahibzada Farhan misses to flick and the ball thuds on the front pad, before rolling into the leg side. They get a leg bye.
Junaid Siddique will open the attack for UAE
Here we go ... !!!
Junaid Siddique to Sahibzada Farhan, Excellent review from Sahibzada Farhan! In all fairness, this looked to be missing the stumps in real time as well. This is on a good length, just a bit of tail into the batter, on middle and leg. Sahibzada Farhan is cramped for room and tries to block from the crease, but plays all around it and is rapped on the pad of the back leg. A loud, confident appeal for LBW, and after a thought, the umpire raises up his finger! Sahibzada Farhan walks to Ayub for a chat and sends it upstairs for a review. Nothing on UltraEdge and the Ball Tracking confirms that the ball is projected to miss the stumps. NOT OUT!
Junaid Siddique to Sahibzada Farhan, First runs on the board and Pakistan and Sahibzada Farhan are off the mark! Swinging into the batter, full and on the leg stump line. Sahibzada Farhan flicks it behind square on the leg side for a couple of runs. A good diving stop by the man from deep mid-wicket to his right.
Done and dusted with all the pre-match formalities, and after an hour's delay, it is finally time for action at the Dubai International Stadium. A decent amount of crowd has marked its presence, equal distribution for both sides. The two umpires are out to the middle. Muhammad Waseem is offering some motivating words to his men in the huddle before the players of UAE scatter out to the field. Out walks the opening pair for Pakistan - Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan. And it will be pace to begin with from the UAE side. Junaid Siddique has the new ball and is raring to go. The countdown is doen and dusted, and 'Let's Play' says the umpire. Off we go...
UAE first and then Pakistan.
It's a must-win clash for both the teams. It's a virtual knockout.
If we closely look at the team selections, plainly focusing on the dew factor, Pakistan have opted for an extra seamer, bringing in Haris Rauf in place of Sufiyan Muqeem. Whereas for the United Arab Emirates, they have opted for a spinner over a pacer as Simranjeet Singh, left-arm orthodox, comes in place of left-arm pacer Muhammad Jawadullah. Plenty of left-armers across both sides, though. Well then, it is now time for the national anthems. Both sides followed by the match officials line up. It will be the national anthem of the United Arab Emirates, followed by that of Pakistan's.
- Waseem, UAE captain
Salman Agha - Pakistan captain
Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Haris(w), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Khushdil Shah, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
Alishan Sharafu, Muhammad Waseem(c), Asif Khan, Muhammad Zohaib, Harshit Kaushik, Rahul Chopra(w), Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh, Junaid Siddique
PITCH REPORT - Urooj Mumtaz and Mike Haysman are pitchside with their thoughts. Urooj starts by sharing that this is the pitch that was used in the Sri Lanka vs Hong Kong, China game. Shares that the average score in the first inning is 155. Mike Haysman joins and observes that it has got a good grass coverage all the way through and stresses that if the seamers hit the right areas initially, they can do a lot of damage. Reckons that it might not assist the spinners a lot as there might not be much turn and grip.
United Arab Emirates (Playing XI) - Alishan Sharafu, Muhammad Waseem (C), Asif Khan, Muhammad Zohaib, Harshit Kaushik, Rahul Chopra (WK), Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Simranjeet Singh (In for Muhammad Jawadullah), Junaid Siddique, and Muhammad Rohid.
Pakistan (Playing XI) - Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Haris (WK), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (C), Khushdil Shah (In for Faheem Ashraf), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, and Haris Rauf (In for Sufiyan Muqeem).
ICC's controversial match referee Andy Pycroft has apologised to the manager and captain of the Pakistani cricket team.
Andy Pycroft had prohibited the captains of both teams from shaking hands during the India-Pakistan match.
The Pakistan Cricket Board had strongly reacted to Andy Pycroft's action.
Andy Pycroft termed the incident on September 14 as a result of miscommunication and apologized.
The ICC has expressed its readiness to investigate the violation of the Code of Conduct during the match on September 14.
The captain of Pakistan, SALMAN AGHA, says that they wanted to bat first and put the UAE under scoreboard pressure. Calls the UAE a very good side. Stresses on executing the plans well for longer periods of time. Informs that they have two changes as Sufiyan Muqeem and Faheem Ashraf miss out on this game.
The captain of United Arab Emirates, MUHAMMAD WASEEM, reckons that dew will play a huge role in this game and they will try to restrict Pakistan to a low total. Says it is a do-or-die game for them and highlights that they had a good game in Abu Dhabi against Oman, but says this is a different game against a different opposition and they are ready for it. Informs one change as Muhammad Jawadullah is out and Simranjeet Singh comes in the side.
TOSS UPDATE - The flip of the coin is won by United Arab Emirates and Muhammad Waseem elects to BOWL first.
Hours before the scheduled start in Dubai, uncertainty clouded over the fixture as Pakistan players remained at their hotel even after their bags had been loaded onto the team bus. Confusion deepened when the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) deleted its posts about the game, fuelling speculation that Pakistan might not take the field.
The stand-off stemmed from the fallout of the “no-handshake” controversy following Pakistan’s defeat to India earlier in the tournament. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) accused Pycroft of mishandling the situation, but an ICC inquiry ruled that he “did not breach any match protocols” and, in fact, had “helped prevent potential embarrassment for both captains by informing them that the organisers had decided to skip the handshake at the toss.”
Toss is scheduled to take place at 8:30 pm IST
The toss is set for 8:30 PM IST
The match will begin at 9:00 PM.
Pakistan team reaches Dubai International Stadium.
Our reporter Pratyush Raj is at the venue
Sep 14: Salman Ali Agha refuses to attend the post-match presentation after the non-handshake saga. Coach Mike Hesson voices displeasure over India’s refusal to shake hands.
Sep 15: Pakistan team manager Naveed Cheema lodges a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) against match referee Andy Pycroft, accusing him of siding with India. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) demands Pycroft’s immediate removal from their Asia Cup matches.
Sep 16: ICC rejects PCB’s demand. PCB threatens to boycott their game against United Arab Emirates (UAE) if Pycroft officiates. Pakistan cancel their pre-match press conference but proceed with their net session at the ICC Academy. PCB sends a second letter to the ICC reiterating their demand to remove Pycroft.
Sep 17: After a delay, the Pakistan team bus finally leaves the hotel. The match has been delayed by an hour.
Our reporter on the ground, Pratyush Raj, is bringing you the latest from Dubai.
He is liveas things stand and bringing you the latest visuals from the Dubai International Stadium. Pakistan cricket team, meanwhile, are stuck in traffic.
“The consultation process is ongoing and PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi is discussing with former chairmen Ramiz Raja and Najam Sethi and on the other hand, online negotiations are also going on with Dubai. Immediately, the match between UAE and Pakistan has been delayed by one hour,” he said.
More to follow.
They are expected to meet PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi first, while the press conference room has been prepared in anticipation of an announcement.
After conducting an investigation, the ICC concluded that Pycroft had not breached any code of conduct and confirmed that he would continue to officiate in today’s game between UAE and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Mohsin Naqvi, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is expected to address a press conference in Pakistan shortly to clarify the board’s stance.
Match Statistics
Venue
Dubai International Stadium, Dubai
