Pakistan beat UAE by seven wickets

ALL OVER! Pakistan beat UAE by seven wickets in Mirpur

# Malik, after being dropped, hits a four and now a six to bring up his FIFTY off 44 balls. Pakistan 101/3

# Malik and Akmal steady the ship for Pakistan. The asking rate is rising but Pakistan, more importantly, have enough wickets in hand

# Very little separates the two teams at this stage of the game. We have an exciting chase on the cards

# Another upset on the cards?

Today in 1996: Kenya beat West Indies by 73 runs at Pune in #CWC
Today at Mirpur: UAE 129/6, Pak 11/2 (in 2 ov) in #AsiaCupT20 #PakvUAE

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) 29 February 2016

# Spot of bother would be an understatement here as Pakistan, chasing 130, lose no.3. Hafeez drives one straight to the fielder. 17/3

# Skipper Amjad leading the show with the ball now. Scalps two in his first over. Pakistan struggling at 11/2

Pakistan making heavy weather of this…….

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) 29 February 2016

# Pakistan openers out in the middle for the chase. They need a start, UAE need wickets from their new-ball bowler Naveed

# UAE stage an impressive recovery to post 129/6 against Pakistan in Mirpur

# Amir and the rest! The seamer ends with impressive figures of 2/6. Usman dragged fullish delivery back on to his stumps to give Amir second success

# Amjad is playing a very useful cameo for UAE. Hits Irfan for two sixes, takes his side to 114 after 18

# UAE have switched the fearless mode on. Bring up the 100, second fifty coming off only 26 balls

# UAE have played spin really well today, or have Pakistan failed to hit the hit the right areas? Whatever it is, the qualifiers are decently placed at 90/5 after 15 overs

# Shaiman’s little gem comes to an end as he edges a Irfan delivery to Sarfraz behind the stumps. Out for 46

# Shaiman Anwar is enjoying Pakistan spin attack. The right-hander enters the 40s, and is dealing in boundaries

# Afridi breaks the steady UAE stand as Mushtaq miscues a sweep…UAE four down now

# First six! Shaiman launches debutan Nawaz into the stands. UAE building a partnership now

# UAE manage 20 and lose three wickets in the powerplay overs. Pakistan turn to spin at the end of first six – Afridi and Nawaz bowling in tandem

# Pakistan are in the mood for an early finish. Irfan picks wicket no.3 and UAE are struggling at 12/3

# And, a little Sami flashback

Oops it was against Bangladesh on July 29. Poor umpire Peter Parker had to do lots of excercise in that over!

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) 29 February 2016

# And, now Amir does what he has done best in the tournament – pick early wickets. Cleans up Kaleem. UAE 5/2

# Mustafa does what he has done best in this tournament – throw his wicket away. UAE 5/1

# Both openers off the mark now, so we won’t have the 7th opener duck of the tournament

# So UAE openers manage to survive Amir’s first over, and Rohan has managed a single too. 1/0

# UAE openers are up against Amir and Sami and Irfan today

In the last five #AsiaCup games, 6 openers got out for a duck. The tally might go up tonight…#UAE batting first. #PAKvUAE

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) 29 February 2016

# Pakistan make an interesting change – rest Riaz, include debutant Mohammad Nawaz

# So UAE would bat first for the first time in the tournament. Skipper Amjad Javed wants his side to score 120-130

# From green tops to “better wickets”. 150 pitch says Dean Jones. Let’s see what the teams do at the toss

# Elsewhere, not good news for India fans as Dhawan’s ankle is still strapped

Shikhar Dhawan, left ankle strapped, chats with Bhajji. #AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/m71F9VBzgR

— Shamik Chakrabarty (@shamik100) February 29, 2016

# Mirpur is gearing up for the clash between Pakistan and UAE

# Pakistan look favourite on Monday but given the conditions, one can expect the unexpected

# Pakistan vs UAE is a contest with both teams looking for a win in the Asia Cup

Preview: Pakistan have much to prove

Pakistan have a very young look to their squad for the Asia Cup and World T20. (Source: PCB)

After a miserable and controversy induced World Cup, two-time Asia Cup champions Pakistan will look to make things right in Bangladesh.

WATCH: Game changers for Pakistan

For Amir, one spell does not a summer make

Mohammad Amir finished with figures of 3/18.(Source:AP)

At Eden Park in Auckland last month, Mohammad Amir was booed as he returned to international cricket after five years. On Saturday, at Sher-e-Bangla stadium here, the Pakistan fast bowler was serenaded with ‘Amir-Amir’ chants. It was not quite the redemption after the spot-fixing punishment. But the 23-year-old deserved the accolades.