PAK vs UAE

That brings us to the end of our live coverage for tonight. Thank you for joining us. Tomorrow, we have another crucial clash as Afghanistan take on Sri Lanka in a match that will decide the final spot in the Super 4s. Until then, this is Meeth Agrawal and Karthik Raj signing off. Goodbye and good night!

Agha Salman (Pakistan Captain): We should still bat better in the middle overs. Apart from that, the bowlers did very well. We haven't batted at our best so far. If we played to our, we would have scored 170-180 no matter who the opponent are. He is a match-winner, he has improved his batting as well. He has been fantastic, be in Sharjah or here. We are ready for any challenge. 

Muhammad Waseem (UAE Captain): I would like to give credit to our bowlers. They bowled exceptionally well. They restricted them to a low total. But we couldn't chase it down. We lost three wickets in the powerplay, but we were still going good until 15th-16th over and then we lost wickets in a cluster. If we are taking the responsibility, then we have to finish the game,the  same goes for the middle order. We'll take the positives and come out better next time. We played against India and Pakistan and learned a lot. 

Shaheen Shah Afridi: (About his batting) Just practicing in the nets, nothing special. Just applying it in the game as usual. Always special when you perform for your team especially in wins. We lost early wickets and then during the middle overs, I just had to go and try to hit. Team needed an early breakthrough, I will do that.

11:11 PM Local Time, 12:41 AM IST: UAE 105 all-out. Pakistan win by 41 runs

Fakhar Zaman - 50 (36) | Shaheen Afridi - 29* (14) & 2/16
Rahul Chopra - 35 (35) | Junaid Siddique - 4/18

Despite a commendable bowling performance that restricted Pakistan to a below-par total, the UAE's batting faltered at a crucial juncture, leading to a 41-run defeat and their elimination from the Asia Cup 2025. After a promising start in the powerplay, the UAE lost three early wickets, a setback from which they could never fully recover, eventually being bundled out for just 105 in their chase of 147.

With this victory, Pakistan becomes the second team from Group A, alongside India, to qualify for the Super 4s. This means cricket fans are in for a treat as we'll get to witness another high-octane India-Pakistan clash on Sunday night.

Coming back to the game, it was a tale of two halves for the UAE. Their bowlers were absolutely sensational, restricting Pakistan to a below-par total of 146/9, a feat made possible by an exceptional four-wicket haul from Junaid Siddique and a crucial three-fer from Simranjeet Singh Kang.

However, the UAE's chase was plagued by a loss of wickets at regular intervals. Despite the best efforts of Dhruv Parashar and Rahul Chopra, who tried to stabilise the innings with a partnership, they were ultimately bowled out for just 105. It was a chase that was always a tightrope walk, and they couldn't navigate it to the end.

While the result is disappointing, the UAE will leave this tournament with their heads held high. After a very tough opening game against India, their bowling performance in this match was truly commendable.

17.4 Haris Rauf to Muhammad Rohid Khan, BIZARRE END TO THE MATCH! Length delivery angling into the stumps, Rohid backs away and slices it behind point. He tried to steal a third run after Mohammad Haris' flick towards the stumps at the batter's end missed. However, Haider wasn't interested by when the ball was thrown towards the keeper who whipped off the bails to run-out Rohid!

17.3 Haris Rauf to Haider Ali, WICKET! Full and slow outside-off, Haider looks to slog but he skies it to mid-wicket where Sahibzada Farhan takes a simple catch!

17.1 Haris Rauf to Simranjeet Singh Kang, HAS SIMRANJEET BEEN RUN-OUT? Full and angling into the stumps from around the wicket, Simranjeet drags it to mid-wicket and takes off for a single. However, Sahibzada Farhan fired a direct-hit. We will go upstairs to check the run-out appeal. The replays show that Simranjeeet was comfortably short of the crease despite his dive.