What an incredible display of resilience we've seen from the UAE throughout this entire series! They've just poured every ounce of grit and effort into this match. You saw it out there - Alishan Sharafu, Asif Khan, taking those painful hits on the body, but did they flinch? Not an inch! They stood absolutely tall, fighting fire with fire against that pace attack from Bangladesh. And then, they just didn't let the spinners get a foothold later on. And how about those massive sixes! They've truly silenced this passionate crowd and, in these steaming hot conditions, they completely turned the match on its head. History, as they say, is always created to be broken, and tonight, right here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, in the land of deserts, history has been gloriously rewritten! The UAE have clinched it! Their second series win against a Test-playing nation in T20I cricket! What a moment for them! Back-to-back wins against Bangladesh and sealed the series 2-1! Back to the game now. Full and overpitched ball darted around the off stump channel, Alishan Sharafu charges down the track, full swing of the bat with the full face of the bat, drills it away firmly past the cover region and finds the ropes. The players are celebrating, exchanging hugs and handshakes, and smiling and cheering at the audience. The Bangladeshi crowd had gone silent.
U.A.E. vs Bangladesh, 3rd T20I at Sharjah, UAE vs BAN, May 21 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary
U.A.E. won by 7 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)
And the UAE players take the trophy, walk on stage, and celebrate. They certainly earned it, and rightfully so! And with that, the UAE versus Bangladesh series is concluded. Thank you so much for being with us during the series. I'm signing off on behalf of myself, Sudeep Poojar, and the entire ESPNcricinfo team. Sayonara!
Player of the Series Muhammad Waseem: "First of all, thanks to my dear Allah and Alhamdulillah. I'm very happy with this victory. And congratulations to our management, our board, and thanks to our sporting staff, our head coach, physio, trainer, analyst, everyone. I'm very happy we have made history. This series means a lot to us. It's very helpful for us in the future. And I'm very happy with the performance of the boys, the way Asif played, Alishan, Rahul Chopra, and the way Haider bowled, and the other bowlers. I'm very happy with the performance of my whole team. I have no words for this victory, to be honest. (Five uncapped players) Very happy they did very well throughout the series, and especially Haider Ali is doing his debut, and he bowled exceptionally. I'm very happy for him. We were not losing our hopes, and we were giving hope to everyone. We can chase every score in Sharjah, or against every team, and we are used to it here. To be honest, I'm very happy. Thanks to the coach, our families, and everyone."
Litton Das: "Definitely, it's not up to the mark when you come here always thinking to win the game, but still, this is part of life. And when you play cricket, sometimes the opposition plays really well. Credit goes to them also. Still, we made a couple of mistakes in batting as well. Today, I feel that this is not up to the mark of what we want on this surface and this condition, and definitely the last three games, we bowled second, and the dew is the main factor. (Positives) Definitely Parvez Emon and Tanzid Tamim, a couple of games, Hridoy and Jaker bat really well. And in the middle, a couple of guys bowl really well. But still, we have to learn, learn more, and execute in the match. (The UAE) They played really well today. They played really well in the first half. They bowled well, and that's why we couldn't score that much. But in the batting, they will favor a little bit of dew, and credit goes to them, whoever bats in the middle. They don't panic that much, and credit goes to them.
Player of the Match Alishan Sharafu: "The plan was pretty simple: to go out there and play as many balls as possible. Everything just worked out in the end. (Waseem) He's been fantastic all series, and losing him early today was a big blow. But obviously, it was another opportunity for everyone else around him to get themselves in. And about the strides. It's just something that I do usually, and just to get myself moving and go towards the ball. But there was no specific plan for it. As soon as he (Asif) came in, it was quite simple to just keep the scoreboard ticking and look for the odd boundary, and just keep rotating strike, for starters. And every now and then, you just get a boundary here and there. (Dug-out) I'm sure everyone's pumped up. And once that third game was announced, everyone was optimistic in the dressing room that we could go 2-1 up in the series, and we took it one game at a time. And I think everything just worked out for us after that."
11:05 pm What a fascinating chase this has been for the UAE! They had a challenging start, losing their skipper Muhammad Waseem early in the innings, a big blow right at the top. But credit where it's due, Zohaib and Alishan Sharafu really knuckled down, starting to rebuild that innings brick by brick after the early setback. Then came the moment that sent a shiver through the UAE dugout - Rishad with an absolute ripper of a delivery! Clean bowled through bat and pad, Zohaib had to depart. Even after that crucial dismissal, the UAE kept their composure, steadily ticking along, keeping that required run rate hovering around eight runs an over. But the game changed in the 16th over, bowled by none other than Rishad himself. The UAE batters plundering 19 runs from that over, including two massive sixes! And just to add salt to the wounds for Bangladesh, Tanzid Tamim put down a crucial catch of Alishan Sharafu at long-off in that very same over, parried it over the ropes for a six.. But then Asif Khan entered the party and seized the show, blasting a flurry of big sixes all over the place! That 16th over essentially altered the trajectory of the game; Bangladesh simply had no hope of getting back into it after that. Their slower, overpitched bowling became just too predictable in the last overs, and they simply failed to execute their plans under duress. Alishan Sharafu finished unbeaten with a stunning 68 runs, while Asif Khan supplied the important late burst, hitting 41 runs off just 26 balls, including five huge sixes. Shoriful was Bangladesh's outstanding bowler, taking one wicket and bowling economically. Don't go anywhere; we'll have the Post-Match Presentation ready soon!
Sharefin Khan: "The catch drops have costed Bangladesh more than anything else in this series."
Tayyab: "UAE looks like a strong contender for the upcoming Asia Cup. Their quality of batting has impressed. And as for Bangladesh, I'm speechless, really."
Karthik Vijayan: "Trying to get some context here very late. But the UAE team is winning and they are the home team here, right? So why is the crowd rallying behind Bangladesh? " Throughout the series, a sizable crowd in the UAE, mostly expatriates, has shown their support for Bangladesh.
Murali Krishnan: "UAE = U Are Extraordinary"
United Arab Emirates won the match by 7 wickets
Scores level. Hasan Mahmud to bowl the last over. Fielders come in close. Silly mid-off and mid-on in.
Pace on hard line and length ball outside off, swing and a miss
Lala has smashed it high over the long off fences! Scores are level now with that big hit. Full and overpitched ball wide outside off, pace on delivery, Asif Khan smokes it over the long off fences with full power, loud cheer from the UAE dug-out
Another swing and a miss! Oh, dear! Asif Khan, what are you doing! Slower bouncer delivery outside off, goes for the big heave and failed to connect
Slower bouncer wide outside off, Asif Khan shuffles across and tries to swing it away, the ball pitching well outside the tram line, does not connect
Slower delivery wide outside off, left alone to the keeper
Biggest six of the night! Full and pace on delivery darted wide outside off, Asif Khan stands tall deep inside the crease, full swing of the bat and heaves it away well over the cover stands, and sends it out of the stadium!
Starts the over with a wide delivery down the off-side
14 runs needed from 12 balls. Here's Tanzim Sakib
Fuller length on the pads, tucked away with the toe end of the bat to mid wicket
Another widish yorker ball, shovels it away to the covers
Widish low full-toss outside off, no shot offered
Slower short of a length ball on the stumps, turns it down to deep mid wicket
That's a cracking stroke from Asif! Half-volley around the off stump channel, makes room outside leg and bludgeons firmly with full force towards extra cover, excellent effort from Shamim, diving to his right and getting a hand to it, saves a sure boundary there
19 runs from 17 balls now, pin-point silence in the galleries
Full and wide delivery down the off-side
Muscles it away over the cow corner fences! Banged in short pitched ball on the stumps, clears the front leg and full swing of the bat, connects the toe end of the bat and does not matter, Asif Khan smoked it high over deep mid wicket fences!
Hasan Mahmud in
Hammered through the covers! This is some poor stuff from Shoriful, too predictable line and length. Full and overpitched outside off, plays it wonderfully inside out, flashes away over the in-field, one bounce and onto the ropes
Slower delivery wide outside off, swing and a miss, moves away from the wicket early, awkward bounce in front of Jaker Ali, failed to collect it, Asif Khan refused the single
Another slower delivery outside off, slices it away over backward point, does not have enough legs to reach the ropes, deep extra cover comes around and intercept
Change of pace delivery on the stumps, shimmies down the track and battered it to wide of long off for a single
Three-quarter length ball on the off stump line, whisked down to short third
Full-toss ball on the stumps from around the wicket, drills it away to deep extra cover
34 runs needed from 24 balls