Watch: Pakistan Shaheens all-rounder Qasim Akram blew away UAE A in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup yesterday (July 17) with a six-for, leading Pakistan A to a 184-run victory in Colombo.

Put into bat after losing the toss, Pakistan A (also known as Pakistan Shaheens) got off to a strong start as Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan added 98 for the first wicket.

Four of the top five Pakistan Shaheens batters got fifties, with the lowest scorer among them being Omair Yousuf who scored 24. Captain Muhammad Haris provided impetus to the innings as he scored 55 off 46 balls coming in at No.5.

Pakistan Shaheens finished on 309, being bowled out four balls before their quota of 50 overs. In response, UAE A started strong and were 59-0 in the 12th over before the collapse started.

Akram, a 20-year-old all-rounder who boasts of a first-class batting average in excess of 40, started the wicket-taking proceedings for Pakistan Shaheens with hsi off-breaks.

He dismissed opener Aryansh Sharma, cleaned up No.3 Fahad Nawaz, and ran through the lower middle order of UAE A, taking a total of six wickets.

His final figures read 10-1-26-6, his personal best in his List A career. UAE A were eventually bundled out for 125, losing the game by 184 runs.

With this victory, Pakistan Shaheens now have four points from two games and an impressive net run rate of +2.875. They are just behind India A, who have an even superior net run rate of +3.792 and are at the top of the table in Group B.

Pakistan Shaheen’s next match is the marquee clash against India A, whom they meet on July 19 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Watch Pakistan Shaheen’s Qasim Akram blow away UAE A with a six-for:

A 6-Star Spell!

Qasim Akram’s magical bowling performance sealed the deal for Pakistan’s Shaheen.

10 ovr | 1 mdns | 26 runs | 6 wktspic.twitter.com/WCCUrHPNnq

— CorneredTigers.net (@CorneredtigersN) July 17, 2023

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