Dubai: Ahmed Hussain’s anchoring half-century followed by four wickets from Abdul Subhan helped Pakistan beat United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 70 runs in the ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup 2025 semi-final at the ICC Academy here on Tuesday.
Chasing a tough target of 242 to win, the country team were bowled out for 171 in 37.5 overs despite a blistering half-century from Ayan Misbah.
Misbah kept UAE in check until he was run out in the 24th over and scored 77 off 74 balls with 12 fours.
Following his dismissal, middle-order batsmen Prithvi Madhu (27) and Muhammad Rayan (12) tried to steady the UAE team, but they brought Pakistan back into the game in subsequent overs and their bowlers ran through the home side’s tail to power their side to a massive victory.
Subban led the charge for the Green Shirts with 4 for 31 in his 7.5 overs, while Mohammad Syam, Momim Qamar and Ahmed Hussain claimed one each.
Winning the toss and batting first, Pakistan captain Farhan Yousuf’s decision was favourable, as his side posted 241/9 in the allotted 50 overs.
The Green Shirts got their innings off to a good start as opening pair Samir Minhas and Usman Khan (21) added 40 runs in nine overs, with Naseem Khan dismissing the latter in the 10th over to give the UAE a much-needed breakthrough.
Naseem struck again in his next over, dismissing top-order batsman Ali Hasan Baloch, who scored 2 runs off 10 balls.
Following a succession of dismissals, Ahmed walked out to bat at number four and soon took charge of Pakistan’s batting, which saw him weave important partnerships with Sameer Minhas (44), Farhan Yousaf (20) and Husaifa Ahsan (23).
Ahmed was eventually dismissed by Zainullah Rahmani on the first delivery of the 47th over and scored a Pakistan-high 65 off 91 balls with 4 fours.
Zahoor, on the other hand, oversaw Pakistan’s batting journey till the third ball of the final over, falling to Yuk Sharma after scoring 42 off 51 balls with four fours.
Sharma was the best bowler for the UAE with 3 wickets for 52 runs in his 10 overs, Naseem 2 wickets and Muhammad Basil Azim, Uddish Suri and Rehmani one each.
Notably, along with Pakistan’s qualification, all four semi-finalists of the 2025 U19 Asia Cup have been confirmed as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have already advanced to the knockout stages.
However, the semi-final matches are yet to be confirmed and will be decided after the group-stage match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.