U.A.E. vs Pakistan, 10th Match, Group A at Dubai, Asia Cup, Sep 17 2025 - Match Result

That brings us to the end of the coverage. Thank you for your comments throughout the game. For now, it's goodbye from me, Rvel Zahid, and our entire crew at ESPNcricinfo

Shaheen Afridi, Player of the Match: Just practicing in the nets, nothing special...trying to apply that in the game as well. It's always special when you perform for your team in a winning cause. My job was to go in and hit the ball and I applied that there and it worked out successfully

Muhammad Waseem, UAE Captain: I would like to give credit to our bowlers. They bowled exceptionally well today and restricted them to a low total. We lost it in the batting. We were confident but I think losing three wickets in the powerplay hurt us. Up until the 15th or 16th over we were going well but then we lost our way. If we are taking responsibility, then everyone has to take responsibility--the middle order as well. I hope they do better in upcoming tournaments. Playing against Pakistan and India was a learning experience for us and we'll look to apply those (learnings) going forward

Salman Ali Agha, Pakistan Captain: We got the job done but we still need to improve our batting in the middle order. That's been a concern and something we need to work on. Apart from that, we did a good job. 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. Shaheen's batting has improved a lot--he's already great with the ball. Saim is someone who has been bringing us back into games and I hope he can continue like this till the end. We're ready for any challenge and if we keep playing the way we have over the last four months, we'll be good against any side. (on the upcoming match against India)

UAE ran out of gas and with their overreliance on the top order, they couldn't handle the superior bowling attack in the middle overs as wickets began to fall at regular intervals and the asking rate crept up. A straightforward defending job from Pakistan, though they'll be concerned about their batting. Shaheen Afridi's vital cameo with the bat bailed them out of trouble and gave some respectability to the total. Pakistan have qualified for the Super Fours. UAE fought their heart out, but they were up against quality opposition, and it was always going to be a tough challenge to negotiate against a solid spin attack. The move to include Haris Rauf in the playing XI paid rich dividends. Earlier, Fakhar Zaman steadied the ship with a responsible half-century, while Salman Agha chipped in with 20, but there wasn't much else to speak of on the batting card. The top order misfired, with several players dismissed for single figures. Shaheen Afridi once again showed his batting dexterity, launching a few sixes out of the park. Junaid Siddique was the pick of the bowlers for UAE, returning 4-18, while Simranjeet Singh was superb with his terrific spin, claiming 3-26

Sudhanshu: "Rvel, my friend, Pakistan need to fix their batting order. Power hitter Shaheen is coming in at 9 when strike bowler Saim is opening…"

Most wickets in a T20I series/tournament by an opening batter (min 3 inns as opener, Full Member nations)

11 - Shane Watson (T20 WC 2012)

10 - Sikandar Raza (T20 WC regional qualifiers 2023)

6* - Saim Ayub (Asia Cup 2025)

6 - Rachin Ravindra (v BAN, 2021)

Fazal Rauf : "Player of the match is going to be Shaheen Afridi"

Salman: "Srilanka is all but through, it will be Afghanistan or Bangladesh, unless Afghanistan can come up with a 100 runs or so win"

Kasinathan: "Well Now the question is which team is going to play against Pakistan? Afghanistan Or Srilanka"