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India kick-started their Asia Cup title defence emphatically by hammering the UAE in Dubai on Wednesday (September 10). In a game that didn’t even last 20 overs in total, India picked up a 9-wicket win after their bowlers set it up by dismantling the UAE for just 57.

Powerplay – Jittery UAE pin hopes on Waseem

With India opting for only Jasprit Bumrah as their lone frontline pacer, Hardik Pandya opened the bowling and conceded a couple of boundaries to Alishan Sharafu. The opener looked in pretty good touch as he also found another boundary off Bumrah before taking on Axar Patel over cover for a six.

But Bumrah eventually had the last laugh as he delivered a pinpoint yorker to breach Sharafu’s defence. Muhammad Zohaib then had a wild slog at Varun Chakaravarthy and mistimed it to get caught, which put UAE in further trouble. Their talisman Muhammad Waseem, though, gave them hope after finding the boundary thrice off a Bumrah over to round off the powerplay.

Middle overs – Kuldeep, Dube wrecthe k UAE

A score of 41/2 with their best batter still at the crease didn’t look that bad for UAE, given they started this contest as the underdogs. However, what followed was a horror show as their batting unit just caved in without a fight. And it was Kuldeep who kick-started the slide with a three-wicket over. Waseem tried to take on the spinner and was one of the victims, and his wicket hurt the UAE big time.

Asif Khan, who had a very good outing against Pakistan last week in the tri-series, nicked one behind to give Dube his first wicket, and UAE suddenly found themselves reeling at 52/6. Only five more runs were added to their tally as Dube and Kuldeep continued to have a field day as they ran through the tail to bowl UAE out for the second-lowest total in Asia Cup history.

India: Powerplay – Job done in 27 deliveries

On expected lines, this quickly turned into one of the most lopsided games in the competition’s history as India hardly broke a sweat in the run chase. Abhishek Sharma got the chase off in cracking style by depositing the first ball over long off for a six, and followed it up with a four. While Haider Ali managed to follow that up with four dots, Abhishek’s new opening partner, Shubman Gill, picked up a four and a six in the following over.

With India already knocking off 25 runs from the first two overs, it was quite evident that this chase wouldn’t go beyond the power play. Eventually, it didn’t even have to go into the sixth over as Abhishek dealt in sixes to draw India closer. Even though he perished in his attempt to close out the game inside four overs, Suryakumar Yadav walked in and slammed his first ball for a six before Gill put an end to the UAE’s misery.

Brief scores: United Arab Emirates 57 in 13.1 overs (Alishan Sharafu 22; Kuldeep Yadav 4/7, Shivam Dube 3/4) lost to India 60/1 in 4.3 overs (Abhishek Sharma 30, Shubman Gill 20*) by 9 wickets