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South Africa vs UAE T20 Cricket World Cup Predictions - Markram to take Proteas to fourth win on the bounce

Simon Lewis

Editor

Last updated: 17 Feb 2026

Simon Lewis 17 Feb 2026

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Aiden Markram hit four sixes in his 44-ball 86* against New Zealand.
Sohaib Khan has scored 51 and 68 in his last two innings.
Can South Africa complete four wins on the trot to end the group stage on top?

Expired

Aiden Markram hits out against New Zealand (Getty Images).

South Africa vs UAE Predictions

South Africa have three wins in three, with two of them by substantial margins. The UAE picked up a win over Canada in the last over, but went down to New Zealand by 10 wickets and to Afghanistan by five wickets. They would need a miracle to come within even 30 runs of beating the Proteas.

South Africa vs UAE Predictions
Head-to-Head
South Africa Form
UAE Form
South Africa vs UAE Team News & Squads

South Africa’s Aiden Markram has scored 38, 59 & 86 in his last 4 innings.
South Africa’s Ryan Rickelton has scored 44, 33, 61 & 21 in his last 4 innings.
UAE’s Sohaib Khan hit four sixes in his 48-ball 68 against Afghanistan.
UAE’s Alishan Sharafu has scored 55 & 40 in his last 3 innings.

Head-to-Head

This will be the first time the teams have met in the World Cup or in a T20I international.

South Africa Form

South Africa made it three wins from three in this World Cup when they beat an in-form New Zealand by seven wickets with 17 balls to spare.

Marco Jansen knocked over New Zealand’s top three batters to leave them in trouble at 64/4 in the seventh over. He added the wicket of top-scorer Mark Chapman to complete figures of 4/40. New Zealand fought back with a strong fifth-wicket partnership but fell short of their goal as they were restricted to 175/7 off their 20 overs. Keshav Maharaj (1/24, econ 8.00) was their most economical bowler.

Aiden Markram (12 boundaries) scored an astonishing 86* off just 44 balls to power his side home with 13 balls in hand. Markram added 62 for the first wicket with Quinton de Kock (20 off 14) and was supported by the top order, with Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis and David Miller all contributing scores in the 20s.

UAE Form

After picking up a win against Canada, the UAE suffered their second loss of the tournament when they lost to Afghanistan by five wickets in the last over of their match.

After losing both openers for just 12 runs in the second over, Alishan Sharafu (40 off 31) and Sohaib Khan (68 off 48) took the UAE to 97 in the 12th over. They then lost seven wickets for 63 runs to end their 20 overs on 160/9.

The UAE bowlers made Afghanistan work hard for their win, which they pulled off in the last over with five wickets in hand. Muhammad Arfan (2/30, econ 7.50) picked up two of Afghanistan’s top three batters, with good support from Junaid Siddique (2/23, econ 6.90).

South Africa vs UAE Team News & Squads

Speaking at the post-match interview, South African captain Aiden Markram paid tribute to the efforts of his bowlers in restricting New Zealand to a score under 180.

“The boys put up a strong effort to restrict them and they were solid with their plans tonight. You have to try and back the skills you are good at,” said Markram.

Markram played a match-winning innings of 86* but paid tribute to Player of the Match Marco Jansen, who returned figures of 4/40.

“He’s a very different left-arm bowler who bowls different types of deliveries. He has been bowling well, but did not have the numbers to show for it. Up front, you have seen how teams are taking off in the powerplay. Might not come off always but when it does, you can get ahead of the game,” added Markram.

UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem paid tribute to his players during the post-match interview.

“It's a very good game and the boys fought well. We were 15 runs short, but we gave two or three extra boundary balls and that cost us the game. Felt we were 10-15 runs short and they got out at the wrong time,” said Wasem.

“We were trying to fight till the last ball. We are hungry for the victory and our fielding was excellent and I am happy with the effort. Our last game is against South Africa… we will show our talent to the world,” added Waseem.

South Africa (possible XI): Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi.

UAE (possible XI): Aryansh Sharma, Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Harshit Kaushik, Mayank Kumar, Sohaib Khan, Muhammad Arfan, Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Rohid.

Verdict

South Africa v UAE

I am backing South Africa to win. I am also backing Aiden Markram to top score for South Africa.

Sohaib Khan is a good bet to top score for the UAE.

South Africa Runs

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Simon is a talented sports writer in South Africa with a strong focus on cricket having played first-team level for UCT, including playing at two Universities Weeks.

From a young age Simon was an avid reader of cricket magazines and books, and went on to be Editor of The Googly, CricketScene SA and SA Cricket, in addition to being a Features Writer on SA Sports Illustrated.

He has interviewed most of South Africa's premier cricketers and was the first writer to interview a teenaged Jacques Kallis.

Simon has also written about English and local football, rugby and cricket, in addition to major international tennis and golf stars and competitions.

You can follow more from Simon at Muckrack, X and LinkedIn.