The Pakistani players strode onto the field a little tense after the looming uncertainty over the fixture, and left the ground with a sigh of relief as they comfortably beat the United Arab Emirates by 41 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to confirm their spot in the Super Fours of Asia Cup 2025.
The scoreline may not indicate it, but Pakistan was on edge when Rahul Chopra and Dhruv Parashar struck up a 48-run alliance for the fourth wicket. However, with the asking rate nudging 10 with just over six overs left, Parashar took the aerial route, and the returning Haris Rauf sent him back.
UAE’s ambitions of pulling off a heist rested on the big-hitting Asif Khan, who was undone by Abrar Ahmed’s googly. From there, a precipitous collapse saw the UAE lose its last five wickets for just 17 runs.
The 147-run chase had started with promise, with openers Alishan Sharafu and Muhammad Waseem showing early intent. Shaheen Afridi then had Sharafu chop on before Mohammad Nawaz held on to a stunning catch at point to send Waseem back.
That dismissal lifted Pakistan’s spirits, which had been dampened by the various controversies surrounding the match that led to the game starting an hour late. Andy Pycroft was retained as match referee by the ICC in the wake of the handshake controversy against India, but in the sixth over of the UAE’s innings, the Sri Lankan umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge had to leave the field after being hit on the head by a stray throw, and was replaced by Bangladesh’s Gazi Sohel.
Earlier, the very first over of the match was symptomatic of Pakistan’s travails with the bat after the UAE elected to bowl. Junaid Siddique was breathing fire, and Sahibzada Farhan was lucky to have a leg-before decision overturned on review, but Saim Ayub’s wretched run continued as he once again failed to keep a cut down and found deep third to depart for his third consecutive duck.
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The left-arm pacer Muhammad Rohid didn’t relent from the other end, beating Farhan and Fakhar Zaman on the outside edge. A frenzied Farhan went slashing Siddique across the line from outside off only to find thin air, and then top-edged a pick-up shot when he was cramped for room.
With two wickets down inside three overs, Fakhar Zaman and captain Salman Ali Agha took up Pakistan’s cause. Fakhar got into the attack in the fifth over, smashing offie Parashar for two successive sixes—a slog sweep and then a charge down the track. With his tail up, Fakhar went on the offensive again, but Parashar deceived him with an arm-ball, and then in flight.
Even as Agha crawled, Fakhar continued to flay the spinners, laying into Haider Ali’s left-arm spin with back-to-back fours. He was nimble on his feet in going down the track and also proficiently cut the ball off the back foot. However, Fakhar’s intent alone wasn’t enough to inject impetus into Pakistan’s innings, which was still in danger territory at 67 for two after 10 overs.
Agha was on 20 off 25 when he bottom-edged an attempted slog-sweep, and once again perished trying to get himself out of a rut when he took the aerial route inside-out to pick deep extra-cover.
A double-wicket over, the 14th of the innings, from Simranjeet Singh piled misery on Pakistan. Fakhar was cramped playing off the back foot after getting to a 35-ball fifty, and Hasan Nawaz was trapped leg-before three balls later.
Simranjeet broke off into a celebratory run when Khushdil Shah holed out at deep midwicket as Pakistan slumped from 86 for three to 93 for six. It eventually took another lower-order blitz from Afridi for Pakistan to end with a defendable total.
Published on Sep 18, 2025
