Pakistan and United Arab Emirates (UAE) will face each other in the second game of the ongoing Tri-nation series on 30th August at Sharjah Stadium.
Match Preview:
Pakistan delivered a clinical performance last year outclassing Afghanistan in all three departments of the game. In batting, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, and Sahibzada Farhan showed the power which pulled Pakistan to the par total of 180 plus and the bowlers defended the target as Pakistan won by the margin of 39 runs.
Although Pakistan won and showed complete dominance they would look to enhance their performance in the upper and lower order. Saim Ayub and Mohammad Haris should perform and gain all the momentum they can ahead of the all-important Asia Cup.
Moreover, Pakistan should try Abrar Ahmed as well as the duo of Sufiyan Moqeem and Abrar can be lethal and powerful on such pitches.
Talking about UAE, they would play their first game of the ongoing Tri-nation series. The team would be in great mood and high in confidence given their recent performance in the T20 format.
The side beat Bangladesh at the same ground in a three-match T20i series in May and the squad is almost the same in the tri-series. All the eyes will be on key performers from that series Alishan Sharafu and Haider Ali. Alishan stood tall in the batting department while Haider made headlines in the bowling.
Besides these two, the captain Mohammad Waseem will be the key player for the UAE in the upcoming game against Pakistan.
UAE may look to test their depth, but their lineup is expected to revolve around Waseem’s aggression and disciplined bowling spells. This series provides them an ideal chance to test everything about their announced squad as the Asia Cup will be played on the same venue and they are placed in a group with Pakistan.
Probable Playing XI:
UAE (predicted playing XI): Muhammad Waseem (C), Haider Ali, Rahul Chopra (WK), Ethan D’Souza, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Harshit Kaushik, Dhruv Parashar, Asif Khan, Rohid Khan, Alishan Sharafu
Pakistan (predicted playing XI): Salman Agha (C), Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Sufiyan Muqeem, Mohammad Haris (WK), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Head-to-head record:
Pakistan and UAE have only met once in an international T20 game with the Green Shirt earning an easy 7-wicket win.
Pitch and weather report:
The Sharjah pitch for Pakistan vs. UAE match is predicted to be sluggish and favor spinners, providing some turn, but past results also indicate that it can occasionally be a batter-friendly surface. Dew might also have a role. On this historically high-scoring field, batting first can be advantageous, and teams will need to adjust fast.
Prediction:
Given how Pakistan performed against Afghanistan, they are favourites to win against UAE as well.
Where to watch:
MENA – Cricbuzz and Sportainment
Pakistan – A-Sports, Ten Sports and Tamasha.
Afghanistan – Lemar.tv
Bangladesh – tapmad and TSports
India – Fancode and Euro Sport
North America – Willow
UK – ARY
Africa – Supersports
RoW – Sports Central
