UAE Stun India at the Hong Kong Sixes — and Send Pakistan to the Plate Semi-Finals

By TaazaPulse News Desk · Published: 30 October 2026 · TaazaPulse News Desk

The United Arab Emirates have beaten India by six wickets at the Hong Kong Sixes — and in doing so they have decided Group C, ended India's tournament as a Cup contender, and sent defending champions Pakistan into the Plate semi-finals. At the Mission Road Ground in Mong Kok on Saturday morning, India made 94 for 6 in their six overs and the UAE chased it without losing a wicket, finishing on 97 for 0 in just 4.2 overs with 10 balls to spare. Captain Khalid Shah, unbeaten on 52 from 14 balls, and Ansh Tandon, unbeaten on 39 from 12, did not give India a single opening: the chase was a procession from the moment the UAE won the toss and chose to field.

The result completes a remarkable group stage for the UAE. On Friday they beat Pakistan — the defending champions, six-time winners of this tournament — by one wicket off the very last ball, chasing 107 with Khalid Shah's 71 from 20 balls. On Saturday they beat India, who had already lost to Pakistan on Friday, by six wickets with 10 balls unused. Two matches, two wins, four points: the UAE top Group C outright, and under this tournament's format only group winners reach the Cup semi-finals. Pakistan, with one win and one defeat, finish second and go to the Plate semi-finals. India, beaten twice, finish third and go to the Bowl semi-finals. There will be no India–Pakistan rematch in Hong Kong: the format separates teams by group position, so the two rivals now travel different knockout roads.

How the UAE chased 95 in 26 balls

India batted first after the UAE won the toss, and their six overs never got going. The innings closed on 94 for 6 — a total that, on a ground where Friday's matches produced scores of 149, 135 and 129, always looked short, and that the UAE's openers treated as exactly that. T Natarajan, India's left-arm seamer, went for 43 from his two overs without a wicket, and the match ended in the fifth over against Krunal Pandya, India's captain, whose two balls cost 12 runs as Khalid Shah finished the job.

The scorecard tells the story in two lines. Khalid Shah finished 52 not out from 14 balls, with three fours and six sixes, at a strike rate of 371. Ansh Tandon finished 39 not out from 12 balls, with two fours and five sixes. Between them they scored 91 of the UAE's 97 runs; six extras did the rest. No Indian bowler took a wicket, no UAE batter was dismissed, and the winning margin — six wickets, 10 balls remaining — flatters India if anything: the UAE were 85 without loss after four overs, needing 10 from 12 balls, and needed only two balls of the fifth over to get them. It was, by the standards of a format built for chaos, a strangely calm chase — and that calm is the point. The UAE did not scrape past India. They outplayed them in every phase of a 26-ball pursuit.

Group C final: UAE first, Pakistan second, India third

The final Group C table reads: UAE played two, won two, four points; Pakistan played two, won one, lost one, two points; India played two, lost two, no points. That order is final — all three teams have completed their group matches — and it fixes Saturday's knockout line-up. The UAE, as group winners, play Australia, the Group A winners, in the first Cup semi-final at 12:10 PM Pakistan time. Pakistan, as runners-up, play Hong Kong, the Group A runners-up, in the second Plate semi-final at 11:15 AM Pakistan time. India, third in the group, play England, third in Group A, in the second Bowl semi-final at 9:25 AM Pakistan time.

For Pakistan, the consequence is bittersweet rather than disastrous, and it is worth stating plainly. The title defence is not over — but it can no longer end with the Cup. Friday's last-ball defeat to the UAE, in which Pakistan's 106 for 3 was chased down for 109 for 5, is the defeat that decides it: had Pakistan held on in that final over, they would have topped the group and walked into the Cup semi-final. Instead their roaring response against India — 91 for 2 in 3.5 overs, Abbas Afridi hitting five consecutive sixes — repaired their net run rate but could not repair the table, because the UAE then beat India and took the group outright. Pakistan's Plate semi-final against hosts Hong Kong is a winnable match, and the Plate final is on Sunday at 11:15 AM Pakistan time — but the Cup, the trophy Pakistan came to defend, will now be contested without them.

For India, the tournament is a chastening one. They lost their opener to Pakistan by four wickets, chasing 89 in 3.5 overs, and their second match to the UAE by six wickets, chasing 95 in 4.2 overs. In both matches they batted first, in both they were held below 100, and in both the chase was completed with more than a third of the innings unused. Their net run rate before Saturday's match was minus 9.072, the worst in the group by a distance, and nothing about Saturday's defeat improved it. They go to the Bowl competition, where the semi-final against England and a possible final on Sunday are all that remain of a campaign that began with semi-final ambitions.

Elsewhere on Saturday morning: Scotland and Afghanistan top their groups

The other two Saturday morning group matches also finished before the knockout rounds, and both followed the same pattern as Group C: the day-one winners confirmed their groups. In Group B, Scotland made 144 for 4 and beat Sri Lanka, who replied with 118 for 3, by 26 runs — a comfortable margin in six-over cricket, and enough to give Scotland two wins from two and top spot in the group. Sri Lanka, who had beaten Bangladesh on Friday, finish second and go to the Plate semi-finals, where they meet Oman on Saturday at 10:20 AM Pakistan time. Bangladesh, beaten twice, finish third and go to the Bowl semi-finals against South Africa.

Sri Lanka's defeat is a quiet end to a loud start. Their tournament began on Friday with Vishen Halambage's unbeaten 80 from just 17 balls — three fours, eleven sixes — chasing down Bangladesh's 127 for 4 with four balls to spare, the second-highest successful chase in the tournament's history. It was the individual innings of the first day, and it made Sri Lanka the team to watch on Saturday morning. Scotland, though, had also won on Friday, chasing Bangladesh's 94 for 5 with 97 for 4, and on Saturday they were simply better across both innings: 144 for 4 was the highest total of the morning session, and 118 for 3 in reply never threatened it.

In Group D, Afghanistan chased down Oman's 120 for 4 with 125 for 2, winning by four wickets with four balls to spare. The result gives Afghanistan two wins from two — they had beaten South Africa on Friday, chasing 107 for 1 with 112 for 3 — and top spot in the group, which sends them to the second Cup semi-final against Scotland at 1:05 PM Pakistan time. Oman, who had thrashed South Africa by 49 runs on Friday, finish second and meet Sri Lanka in the Plate semi-finals. South Africa, beaten in both matches, finish third and meet Bangladesh in the Bowl semi-finals.

What happens next: semi-finals Saturday, finals Sunday

Saturday's knockout line-up is now fixed. The Bowl semi-finals are Bangladesh against South Africa at 8:30 AM Pakistan time and England against India at 9:25 AM. The Plate semi-finals are Sri Lanka against Oman at 10:20 AM and Hong Kong against Pakistan at 11:15 AM. The Cup semi-finals are Australia against the UAE at 12:10 PM and Scotland against Afghanistan at 1:05 PM. All three finals are on Sunday 1 November at the Mission Road Ground: the Bowl final at 10:20 AM, the Plate final at 11:15 AM and the Cup final at 12:10 PM Pakistan time.

Pakistan's immediate task is the Plate semi-final against Hong Kong. The hosts are no soft touch in this format: they beat England by 61 runs on Friday, piling up 149 for 5 behind Anshuman Rath's 62 from 13 balls, and they finished second in Group A behind Australia. Pakistan's own form is two-sided — a last-ball defeat and a 3.5-over demolition — and which side shows up on Saturday afternoon decides whether their weekend ends in a final or in elimination. TaazaPulse will report the semi-finals as soon as they are final.

One more Saturday match deserves a line of its own, because it is the match most Pakistani fans will watch today. Away from Hong Kong, Pakistan meet Sri Lanka in the ODI tri-series final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore at 1:00 PM Pakistan time — the final of a week in which Pakistan beat England, lost to Sri Lanka, and now meet the same opposition with a trophy on the line. Two finals races, two cities, one afternoon: Hong Kong decides Pakistan's Sixes fate, Lahore decides the tri-series. TaazaPulse is covering both.