Hong Kong Sixes: UAE beat India by six wickets, reach Cup semis

The United Arab Emirates beat India by six wickets in their Group C match at the Hong Kong Sixes on Saturday, October 31, 2026, at the Mission Road Ground in Mong Kok, Hong Kong. Sent in to bat, India made 94 for 6 in their six overs. The UAE then reached 97 in just 4.2 overs without losing a wicket, led by an unbeaten 52 off 14 balls from captain Khalid Shah. The win, after an earlier victory over Pakistan, puts the UAE into the Cup semi-finals against Australia, while India, who had already lost to Pakistan, finished the group stage without a win.

The Hong Kong Sixes is a short, fast format: six players a side, six overs an innings, and matches that can be decided in a few minutes. With so few balls in each innings, results can swing quickly. Even so, two defeats in two group games is a poor outcome for an Indian side that included well-known IPL names such as captain Krunal Pandya, Shashank Singh, Rahul Tewatia, Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi.

The match also showed how the format punishes a slow start. India lost three top-order batters cheaply, and it took a counter-attack from fast bowler T Natarajan, of all players, to lift the total to 94. In six-a-side cricket, where a single over can bring 30 runs or more, that total was always going to be hard to defend, and the UAE chased it with more than one and a half overs to spare.

For the UAE, the result is a significant one. An Associate nation (a country that is not one of the Test-playing full members of the International Cricket Council) has now beaten both India and Pakistan in the same tournament and reached the last four. Results like these help Associate teams gain sponsors, attention and fixtures against stronger sides.

For Indian fans, the tournament had drawn interest because of the India vs Pakistan game and because it falls in the same week as India's senior T20 international series in New Zealand. The squad in Hong Kong, led by Krunal Pandya, did not include the players on that tour. Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, originally named, was called up for the New Zealand series and replaced by Kulwant Khejroliya.

Short-term: The UAE move on to a Cup semi-final against Australia. India's remaining matches will be in the lower placing rounds on the final day, November 1, and will not affect the title race.

Long-term: The result will add to the debate about whether India should send stronger squads to exhibition-style events such as the Hong Kong Sixes, or treat them as a chance for fringe and veteran players. For the UAE, beating two of the sport's biggest names will strengthen the case for more matches against full-member nations.

Who is affected: The seven Indian players, especially those hoping to stay in the selectors' minds; the UAE squad and its supporters; Cricket Hong Kong, the organiser, which benefits from strong crowd and viewer interest; and fans who follow the tournament on television and streaming services.

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