Pakistan edged past UAE to reach the Super Four, but fragile batting remains their biggest concern ahead of the India clash.
Pakistan sealed their place in the Super Four with a nervy win over UAE, but the batting once again left fans restless. Fakhar Zaman’s 13th T20 fifty held the innings together, while the rest collapsed like dominoes. Against an associate attack, it shouldn’t have looked this hard. Yet UAE’s pacers bowled with the bite of a SENA fast-bowling unit.
Saim Ayub’s lean patch is turning into a full-blown worry. Another duck, another powerplay wasted. Questions are louder now over why he keeps his place in the XI when his early exits are hurting the team.
The middle order didn’t rescue much either. Salman Ali Agha and Shadab Khan couldn’t settle. At 114 for 7, Pakistan looked set to fold under 120. Junaid Siddiqui and Mohammad Rohid Khan had the game in their grip.
And then came Shaheen Afridi. Again. A bowler by trade, yet the one dragging his side to a score with the bat. His 29 off 14 balls at the death gave Pakistan 146, something for the bowlers to work with. Just as he had done in the previous game. That says enough about the specialist batsmen.
Once the ball was in their hands, Pakistan looked like Pakistan again. Shaheen struck early, Haris Rauf thundered through the middle. Six wickets fell for 20 runs, UAE’s chase breaking apart in a flash. Nawaz’s sharp running catch to dismiss Muhammad Waseem — who had just gone past 2,000 T20I runs — killed any hopes of an upset.
The dew made life tricky, but discipline won out. Line and length, backed by sharp fielding, turned the tide. For UAE, Waseem’s fight showed Associate teams can rattle the big boys. But they couldn’t hold on.
Pakistan walk away with points and relief, but not answers. The bowling can win them matches. The batting? Still brittle. Against India, that flaw could cost far more.
