Pakistan will look to put their humiliating start behind them and return to winning ways when they take on minnows United Arab Emirates in the sixth game of the Asia Cup Twenty20 at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today. The match begins at 7:30pm and Star Sports 1, GTV and Maasranga TV will telecast it live.
The Pakistan batsmen gave a poor account of themselves against arch-rival India in their tournament opener last Saturday and will be desperate to right the wrongs against an Emirati side which lost both of their matches so far against Sri Lanka and hosts Bangladesh respectively.
A disastrous batting display saw Pakistan dismissed for a paltry 83 as the Indian pacemen wrecked havoc in bowling-friendly conditions. With the exception of stumper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed and debutant Khurram Manzoor, none of the other batsmen reached double figures. The Pakistan think tank will be desperate to rectify the mistakes before the side’s survival in the tournament comes under threat.
Pakistan however, will take inspiration from the bowling performance of the returning Mohammad Amir in spite of the five-wicket defeat. Defending the below-par total was unrealistic but Amir tried his best with a heroic effort, ripping the Indian top-order with three early wickets.
The UAE in contrast, have perhaps been the most surprising team of the tournament. They qualified for the main round after sweeping aside a formidable Afghanistan side, Hong Kong and Oman in the qualifiers. Since then however, the UAE have struggled against the big boys.
The side mostly relies on its bowling attack and it will not be any different against Pakistan. The likes of captain Amjad Javed, pacer Mohammad Naveed and spinner Ahmed Raza will once again be expected to deliver the goods with the leather.
However, scoring runs has been the major problem for the Middle Eastern outfit as the top-three, comprising Rohan Mustafa, Muhammad Kaleem and Mohammad Shahzad, have totalled just 38 runs in the first two matches.
Today’s game will be the first T20I between the two sides. The last time the two teams met each other in any format was in the World Cup last year with Pakistan winning the tie by a comprehensive margin of 129 runs.
