Pakistan came to form after a long time and emphatically won the match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the match 25 of Group B held today at Napier in New Zealand. It was Pakistan’s second victory in the Cricket World Cup and positioned themselves at number four in the Group B. Of course India and South Africa are holding the first and second spot respectively. The UAE won the toss but surprisingly, they opted to bowl first. Pakistan exploited the opportunity well with most of its batsmen clicked.

Pakistan vs UAE: Ahmed Shehzad sets up emphatic Pakistan win

Pakistan lost its opener Naseer Jamshed (4) in the fourth over, but the rest of the batsmen played sensibly throughout their 50-over quota. Opener Ahmed Shehzad 93 (105b, 4sx8, 6sx1) remained a top scorer in the match. His 160-run stand with H. Sohali 70 (83b, 4sx5, 6sx1) completely turned the match in favour of Pakistan. However the team came under pressure on 176/3 at 36.1 overs when both these batsmen were dismissed within a gap of 8 balls.

The middle order batsmen Shoaib Maqsood 45 (31b, 4sx4, 6sx2) and Skipper Misbah-Ul-Haq 65 (49b, 4sx4, 6sx2) ensured that Pakistan score a big total on board without any further mistake. When Maqsood was dismissed, he already added 75-run partnership with the captain. Umar Akmal 19 (13b, 4sx1, 6sx1) also contributed well and built up a strong 61-run partnership with Misbah. It was Shahid Afridi’s blitzkrieg knock of 21-run off 7 balls with one four and two sixes in the end that helped Pakistan put 339 after 50-overs.

Amongst the UAE bowlers Manjula Guruge (8-0-56-4) remained the most successful one and picked up 4 wickets. However his economy rate was 7 which can’t be termed good. On the other hand Pakistan bowled in perfect line and length when they came out to bowl against the minnows.

The miserable performance of the UAE side can be gauged from the fact that four of their batsmen scored 0 runs today. Both Krishna Chandran (0) and Rohan Mustafa (0) were dismissed early while Mohammad Tauqir (captain) and Mohammad Naveed remained unbeaten on 0* (Not Out).

Amongst Pakistani bowlers, Sohail Khan (9-2-54-2), Wahab Riaz (10-1-54-2) and Shahid Afridi (10-1-35-2) shared a total of 6 wickets amongst them and helped the team beat UAE by 129 runs. Only Khurram Khan 43 (54b, 4sx3, 6sx1), Shaiman Anwar 62 (88b, 4sx4, 6sx2), Swapnil Patil 36 (68b, 4sx2) and Amjad Javed 40 (33b, 4sx5, 6sx2) played well from the UAE batting line up. However, they could not avoid the imminent defeat as the UAE finished 210/8 after 50-overs. Pakistan’s opener Ahmed Shehzad was adjudged Man-of-the-match for his brilliant 93-run knock.

Tags: Ahmed Shehzad, Cricket, Cricket World Cup, CWC 2015, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Pakistan, UAE