T20I tri-series: Pakistan win toss, elect to bat first against UAE

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the second match of the T20I tri-series at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Playing XIs

Pakistan made two changes to their lineup, with Salman Mirza and Hasan Ali replacing Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf.

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Salman Mirza and Sufiyan Muqeem.

UAE: Muhammad Zohaib, Muhammad Waseem (c), Asif Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Rahul Chopra (wk), Ethan DSouza, Dhruv Parashar, Saghir Khan, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah.

Head-to-Head

Both teams have faced each other once in T20Is, with Pakistan emerging victorious during the 2016 T20 World Cup in Mirpur, Bangladesh.

Batting first, UAE posted 129-6, highlighted by a brilliant 46 off 42 by Shaiman Anwar, while captain Amjad Javed and Muhammad Usman contributed 27 and 21 runs respectively.

Pakistan chased down the total, losing three wickets for 17 runs early before a 114-run partnership between Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik sealed the win in 18.4 overs.

Malik played a crucial knock of 63 off 49 balls, while Umar Akmal scored a valuable 50 off 46 deliveries.

Form Guide

Pakistan will carry forward strong momentum, having recently won the three-match T20I series against West Indies and dominated the tri-series opener against Afghanistan.

UAE will aim for a win after a successful run against Bangladesh (2-1) in May and victories over Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria in the Pearl of Africa T20I series.

UAE: L, W, W, W, L (Most Recent First)

Pakistan: W, W, L, W, W