Asia Cup: Pakistan Beat UAE To Reach Super Four Stage

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

After the boycott drama ended in a delayed start, a sloppy Pakistan beat the UAE by 41 runs in the Asia Cup Group A game to advance to the Super Four Stage at Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday.

The match, which was scheduled to start at 6:30 pm, began at 7:30 pm with the UAE winning the toss and opting to field.

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Under huge pressure to win the match after their demand to remove match referee Andy Pycroft for his handling of the handshake controversy in the game against India was rejected, Pakistan struggled with the bat.

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Salman Agha's team were staring down the barrel at 93 for six in the 16th over despite Fakhar Zaman's 50 off 36 balls.

But a magnificent cameo from number nine, Shaheen Shah Afridi (29 not out off 14 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) saved Pakistan the blushes as they managed to post a fighting total of 146 for nine on the board.

For the UAE, Pakistan-born pacer Junaid Siddique (4-0-18-4) and left-arm spinner Simranjeet Singh (4-0-26-3) were outstanding with the ball.

But the UAE's batting unit failed to rise to the challenge as the home side slumped to 105 all out in what was a predictable end to what threatened to be a very unpredictable day.

Next challenge

In their first match of the Super Four stage, Pakistan will take on India on Sunday, exactly a week after the controversial Group A game between the two teams when India's refusal to shake hands with their opponents threw the tournament into chaos.

Now that Pakistan remain in the grand scheme of things after their victory over the UAE, which followed a nerve-racking drama over their participation in the match, their team management will hope to fix the batting issues, especially against spinners, when they face India on Sunday.

"We got the job done (against the UAE) but we still need to improve our batting in the middle order. That's been a concern and something we need to work on," skipper Agha admitted.

"We haven't batted at our best yet...we're still just finding our way to 150. If we bat well in the middle overs, we can push it to 170 no matter the opposition."

Brief scores:

Pakistan 146 for 9 (Fakhar 50, Afridi 29 not out, Siddique 4-18, Simranjeet 3-26) beat UAE 105 (Chopra 35, Abrar 2-13, Afridi 2-16) by 41 runs.

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