Pycroft is officiating after an apology; Bowlers strike early as Green Shirts look to win and book place for Sunday’s India encounter.
Pakistan have set the UAE a target of 147 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 is 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, 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.
Live coverage begins (Refresh for updates every 5 overs)
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.