8:50pm That will be all from us for tonight. India flexed their muscles and were simply too hot to handle for the UAE. We will be back again tomorrow as Bangladesh begin their Asia Cup campaign against Hong Kong. Until then, from Raghav, Vairavan and myself (Shashwat), it is goodbye!

Kuldeep Yadav, Player of the Match: (On not playing a lot in recent months) It was tough for me. Was working on my bowling and my fitness as well (with Adrian le Roux, our Strength & Conditioning coach), and everything was going perfect (tonight). The length matters a lot, reading the batters. Specially in this format, the length is the main thing and reading the batters and what they are trying to do. Reacting to what the batter was trying to do (off the next ball).

Suryakumar Yadav, India captain: (On the decision at the toss) Wanted to see how the wicket was playing, it was the same in the second innings as well. (On if they will get their entire match fee with this being an early finish) That we will talk about later (laughs). Clinical performance from the buys. Wanted good energy and attitude in the field and that carried over into the batting. Recently, a lot of boys were here during the Champions Trophy. It (the pitch) looked good but it looked on the slower side. It is very hot here, so thought spinners might have a bit more dominance, but nice support shown by Hardik, Bumrah and Dube. (On Abhishek) He is a phenomenal batter and that is the reason he is the world number one (batter) right now. He keeps the team first, irrespective of the score, and that is unbelievable from him. (On sending a message to Pakistan with this performance) We all are excited, everyone wants to play a good game and we are really looking forward to it.

Muhammad Waseem, UAE captain: We started well as a batting team but we lost wickets in a cluster, and that cost us the game. We can say that they (India) are a brilliant team and are bowling really well. They executed their plan for every batter. That is why they are the number one team. As a team, we have to come back stronger and we have to learn from these mistakes, and hopefully we can come back stronger.

Ishan L: “India’s NRR now over 10!!!”

8:26pm Four and a half overs is all it takes for India. Abhishek and Gill flexed their muscles and some of their stroke-making was breath-taking, even if they did not have to contend with the pressure of a huge total. SKY got a maximum in too, and India will be very pleased with their evening’s work.

Not sure the same could be said about the UAE. They came into the Asia Cup, thinking they could rattle a few feathers and while that could still happen, this performance did not provide much evidence that that could be the case. Their batting was listless and they could not do much when India rampaged at them in the chase.

Here’s Namooh Shah, highlighting India’s dominance today with a stat. Fastest chase by India in Men’s T20I ( by overs)

4.3 overs v U.A.E, Today

6.3 overs v SCO, Dubai 2021

9.2 overs v BAN, Hangzhou 2023

Simranjeet Singh to Shubman Gill, FOUR, the demolition job is complete! Gill lands the knockout blow and India begin their Asia Cup campaign with a MASSIVE win! A touch short and a hint of width offered, and that is all Gill is waiting for. He rocks back, opens up his stance and blitzes it down the ground. Mid on had no chance, and India, by extension, gave UAE no chance tonight!