Pycroft was officiating after an apology; bowlers hand Green Shirts a comprehensive win after batting falters.
Pakistan won with ease by 41 runs after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) won the toss and elected to bowl first in their much-delayed men’s Asia Cup encounter.
The Pakistan-UAE clash was set to go through on Wednesday after Zimbabwean referee Andy Pycroft apologised to the manager and captain of the Green Shirts after much uncertainty surrounding the fixture in the fallout of the Pakistan-India match last Sunday.
Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha at the post-match ceremony said his team hasn’t batted at their best yet.
“We need to bat better in the middle overs… we’re still finding our way to finding our way to 150+ scores,” Salman said.
Salman called player of the match, Shaheen Afridi a match-winner. The left-arm pacer was adjudicated POTM for his heroics with the bat and his contribution with the ball in what became a comprehensive victory for the Green Shirts.
Match analysis by Abyan Amir:
Shaheen reminded us of his father-in-law yet again with another terrific Afridi cameo that helped salvage the dithering Pakistani batting innings to reach 146-8 at the end of 20 overs, and that was too much for the UAE batters from the get-go.
After all the drama in the lead-up to the match, Pakistan ended with a comprehensive victory in a match they were expected to win with ease and will now face India again in a chance at redemption in the aftermath of the controversy after last Sunday’s encounter.
Fakhar Zaman reached his 50 off just 35 deliveries and got out trying to up the rate. The Mardan-born player was the Green Shirts’ sole batter who was dominating the UAE bowlers till Shaheen showed up.
The Pakistani batters made for another sorry showing as the home bowlers kept them in check throughout — barring Fakhar and Shaheen.
Simranjeet Singh was the pick of the bowlers for the UAE as he ended with figures of 3-26 and kept the home team in the match going into the second innings.
Live coverage ends
Overs 15-20 — UAE 105 all out
And that’s all for today, folks — after all the drama in the lead-up to the match, Pakistan ended with a comprehensive victory in a match they were expected to win with ease.
The Green Shirts made short work of the UAE lower order after getting the
Overs 10-15 — UAE 88-5
Dawn’s Umaid Wasim says Pakistan are now in a strong position to win, and the newsroom agrees completely with him.
Abrar and Salman struck to completely take the wind out of the home team’s sails.
UAE have stretched this match into the very final quarter of the match, and kudos to them for pushing Pakistan this far.
Overs 5-10 — UAE 61-3
UAE rebuild after Pakistan pegged them back at the end of the powerplay, the Green Shirts need to make a breakthrough soon to keep the home batters from getting into a strong position to win!
Overs 1-5 — UAE 37-3
Pakistan have struck after the UAE got a decent start in the first two overs!
2.3: Shaheen made a mockery of Alishan Sharafu’s stumps with a jaffa to send the UAE batter packing.
Pakistan are in a dominant position now after getting the home side three down in the powerplay.
Mid-Match summary by Abyan Amir:
Shaheen Afridi reminds us of his father-in-law again! Another terrific Afridi cameo to end the innings as he helped salvage the dithering innings to reach 146-8 at the end of 20 overs thanks to his big hitting towards the end.
Fakhar Zaman reached his 50 off just 35 deliveries and got out trying to up the rate. The man was the Green Shirts’ sole batter who was dominating the UAE bowlers till Shaheen showed up.
The Pakistani batters made for another sorry showing as the home bowlers kept them in check throughout — barring Fakhar and Shaheen.
Simranjeet Singh was the pick of the bowlers for the UAE as he ended with figures of 3-26 and kept the home team in the match going into the second innings.
Pakistan’s batting effort
Overs 15-20 — Pak 146-9
Khushdil departs after a nothing shot — tries to go for a shot but barely manages
Cheers of joy go around the newsroom as Pakistan cross the 127 mark! The Green Shirts have crossed their total from the India match.
19.1 Shaheen launches Rohid for a huge straight six down the ground!
Shaheen was reminding us of his father-in-law again! Another terrific Afridi cameo to end the innings as Pakistan salvages the dithering innings to reach 146-9 at the end of 20 overs thanks to Shaheen’s late fireworks.
Overs 10 -15 — Pak 88-5
12.3: Fakhar smacks Parashar for a huge six straight down the ground — the Man from Mardan is on a mission!
Fakhar reached his 50 off just 35 deliveries and got out trying to up the rate. The man was the Green Shirts’ sole batter who was dominating the UAE bowlers.
Khushdil Shah is the next batter in for Pakistan. The left-handed batter is known for his big hitting down the order.
Simranjeet Singh gets Hasan Nawaz next as the Green Team sinks further.
Overs 5-10 — Pak 67-2
Fakhar has now taken charge after the Green Shirts lost early wickets.
Overs 1-5 — Pak 10-2
Pakistan start their innings with openers Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan out in the middle.
The Green Shirts have lost their first wicket in the very first over as Saim continues to have a poor tournament.
Sahibazada is the next to fall as Pakistan’s woes with their opening batting continue.
Anthems
The Pakistan and UAE Anthems are played as this much-delayed and pivotal encounter finally gets underway.
Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha, speaking at the toss, said: “For us, we want to play a proper game today, we didn’t play well in the middle overs in the last game — It’s a great day to play a perfect game.”
Pakistan had two changes in their team, Haris Rauf and Khushdil Shah are in for Faheem Ashraf and Sufyan Muqeem.
