Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi: pitch report, capacity and records
In 15 Tests at Abu Dhabi no side has chased more than 108 to win, while T20 chasers have won 43 of 76. The pitch report and records for every format at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Oct 2, 2024 · Updated Sep 26, 2026
The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi has staged 15 Tests, and in all of them no side has chased more than 108 to win. That is the fact to hold on to when reading the ground’s records, because the same pitch has also produced five Test totals of 545 or more. Big first-innings scores, then a surface that gets harder to bat on each day: that is the Abu Dhabi pitch report in one line.
The white-ball story runs the other way. In ODIs the side batting first has won 37 of 56, while in T20Is the chasing side has won 43 of 76. The numbers for each format follow, along with the three IPL seasons the ground hosted in 2014, 2020 and 2021.
Sheikh Zayed Stadium: key facts
| Location | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |
| Opened | May 2004 |
| Capacity | 20,000 |
| Ends | North End, Pavilion End |
| Owner | Emirates Cricket Board |
| First ODI | Pakistan v India, 18 April 2006 |
| First T20I | Afghanistan v Scotland, 10 February 2010 |
| First Test | Pakistan v South Africa, 20 November 2010 |
| Men’s internationals | 15 Tests, 56 ODIs, 76 T20Is |
| IPL matches | 37 (2014, 2020, 2021) |
The ground sits inside a complex that also contains the Tolerance Oval, a smaller second field that stages its own matches. The figures on this page are for the main stadium only. ESPNcricinfo’s records list it as the Zayed Cricket Stadium, and the two names refer to the same ground.
Abu Dhabi pitch report: bat first or chase?
The answer depends on the format, and the split is sharp enough to be worth knowing before a toss.
| Format | Games | 1st-inns avg | Bat 1st won | Chase won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODIs | 56 | 252.4 | 37 | 19 |
| T20Is | 76 | 145.4 | 33 | 43 |
| IPL | 37 | 158.9 | 14 | 21 (2 ties) |
In 50-over cricket, the side batting first has won two games in every three. The first-innings average is only 252.4, and a total around that mark has usually been enough. The recent run is even more one-sided. Of the six ODIs played here since 2024, five went to the team batting first, including South Africa’s 174-run win over Ireland on 4 October 2024 and Afghanistan’s 200-run win over Bangladesh on 14 October 2025.
T20 cricket flips it. Chasing sides have the better record in internationals and in the IPL, and scores have climbed.
| Format | Years | Games | 1st-inns avg | Bat 1st-chase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODIs | 2006-19 | 45 | 249.4 | 29-16 |
| ODIs | 2020-25 | 11 | 264.6 | 8-3 |
| T20Is | 2010-19 | 45 | 138.0 | 20-25 |
| T20Is | 2020-25 | 31 | 156.0 | 13-18 |
The first-innings T20I average has gone from 138.0 across the internationals played up to 2019 to 156.0 since 2020. Even so, it was the lowest-scoring of the three UAE grounds when they shared a full IPL season.
IPL at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium
Abu Dhabi hosted seven IPL matches in the UAE leg of 2014, 22 in the 2020 season that was moved out of India entirely, and eight in the second half of 2021. The 2020 season is the cleanest comparison, because the three UAE venues split all 60 matches between them.
| IPL 2020 | Games | 1st-inns avg | Bat 1st won | Chase won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abu Dhabi | 22 | 162.5 | 8 | 13 |
| Dubai | 26 | 171.5 | 14 | 9 |
| Sharjah | 12 | 177.9 | 5 | 7 |
Abu Dhabi was the lowest-scoring of the three grounds in 2020, averaging 162.5 in the first innings against 171.5 in Dubai and 177.9 in Sharjah. Chasing sides won 13 of the 22 games there, with one tie. Dubai went the opposite way, with the team batting first winning 14 of 26. For how these numbers compare with the Indian grounds, see our IPL pitch report by ground.
| IPL record | Player/team | Figure | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest total | Mumbai Indians | 235/9 | v SRH, 2021 |
| Lowest total | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 70 | v RR, 2014 |
| Highest score | Ben Stokes (RR) | 107* | v MI, 2020 |
| Second-highest score | Ruturaj Gaikwad (CSK) | 101* | v RR, 2021 |
| Best bowling | Varun Chakravarthy (KKR) | 5/20 | v DC, 2020 |
Mumbai’s 235/9 came on the last day of the 2021 league stage, when they needed to win by 171 runs to reach the playoffs. Ishan Kishan hit 84 off 32 balls, Mumbai won by 42, and they still went out on net run rate. Stokes made his 107 not out in a chase of 196 that Rajasthan completed with ten balls to spare.
Test cricket at Abu Dhabi: why chasing is so hard
Abu Dhabi became one of Pakistan’s home Test venues while international cricket stayed away from Pakistan after the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore. Pakistan played 13 of the ground’s 15 Tests, winning six, losing three and drawing four. The other two were Afghanistan’s home series against Zimbabwe in March 2021.
The pattern across those 15 Tests is that the fourth innings is where matches are lost. Here is every Test at the ground that was won or lost in the final innings.
| Chasing side | 4th inns | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Zimbabwe v Afghanistan, 2021 | 17/0 | Won |
| Pakistan v South Africa, 2013 | 45/3 | Won |
| England v Pakistan, 2012 | 72 | Lost (needed 145) |
| Afghanistan v Zimbabwe, 2021 | 108/4 | Won |
| Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 2017 | 114 | Lost (needed 136) |
| Pakistan v New Zealand, 2018 | 156 | Lost (needed 280) |
| Australia v Pakistan, 2018 | 164 | Lost (needed 538) |
| Pakistan v New Zealand, 2018 | 171 | Lost (needed 176) |
| New Zealand v Pakistan, 2014 | 231 | Lost (needed 480) |
| Australia v Pakistan, 2014 | 246 | Lost (needed 603) |
| West Indies v Pakistan, 2016 | 322 | Lost (needed 456) |
Three of those defeats came in chases of 176 or less, and they show what the pitch does late in a match. England were bowled out for 72 needing 145 in January 2012, with Abdur Rehman taking 6/25. Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath took 6/43 as Pakistan fell 21 runs short of 136 in 2017. A year later New Zealand beat Pakistan by four runs, defending 175. The biggest target anyone has reached here is 108, which Afghanistan knocked off for the loss of four wickets against Zimbabwe in 2021. Rashid Khan bowled 62.5 overs in Zimbabwe’s second innings of that match and took 7/137, still the best figures in a Test at the ground.
Batting first is the other half of the story. England’s 598/9 declared in 2015, South Africa’s 584/9 declared in 2010 and Pakistan’s 570/6 declared against Australia in 2014 are the three biggest Test totals at the venue.
Sheikh Zayed Stadium Test records
| Record | Player/team | Figure | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest total | England | 598/9d | v Pakistan, 2015 |
| Highest total | South Africa | 584/9d | v Pakistan, 2010 |
| Lowest all-out total | England | 72 | v Pakistan, 2012 |
| Lowest all-out total | Pakistan | 114 | v Sri Lanka, 2017 |
| Highest score | AB de Villiers (SA) | 278* | v Pakistan, 2010 |
| Highest score | Alastair Cook (Eng) | 263 | v Pakistan, 2015 |
| Best bowling | Rashid Khan (Afg) | 7/137 | v Zimbabwe, 2021 |
| Best bowling | Abdur Rehman (Pak) | 6/25 | v England, 2012 |
| Record | Player | Total | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most runs | Azhar Ali (Pak) | 1086 | 11 |
| Most runs | Misbah-ul-Haq (Pak) | 994 | 9 |
| Most wickets | Yasir Shah (Pak) | 46 | 7 |
| Most wickets | Zulfiqar Babar (Pak) | 22 | 5 |
Misbah-ul-Haq’s average of 99.4 across nine Tests here is the standout batting number. Leg-spinner Yasir Shah took 46 wickets in only seven Tests, more than twice as many as anyone else.
Sheikh Zayed Stadium ODI records
South Africa’s 343/4 against Ireland in October 2024 is the highest ODI total at the ground, passing the 313/9 Pakistan made against Sri Lanka in 2007, which had stood for 17 years. Afghanistan’s 63 against Scotland in 2015 is still the lowest.
| Record | Player/team | Figure | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest total | South Africa | 343/4 | v Ireland, 2024 |
| Highest total | Pakistan | 313/9 | v Sri Lanka, 2007 |
| Lowest all-out total | Afghanistan | 63 | v Scotland, 2015 |
| Lowest all-out total | Bangladesh | 93 | v Afghanistan, 2025 |
| Highest score | Alastair Cook (Eng) | 137 | v Pakistan, 2012 |
| Highest score | Paul Stirling (Ire) | 131* | v UAE, 2021 |
| Best bowling | Josh Davey (Sco) | 6/28 | v Afghanistan, 2015 |
| Best bowling | Simi Singh (Ire) | 5/10 | v UAE, 2021 |
| Record | Player | Total | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most runs | Misbah-ul-Haq (Pak) | 585 | 16 |
| Most runs | Mohammad Hafeez (Pak) | 576 | 18 |
| Most wickets | Saeed Ajmal (Pak) | 29 | 18 |
| Most wickets | Umar Gul (Pak) | 28 | 16 |
Rashid Khan is fourth on the wickets list with 26, taken in only ten ODIs at an average of 12.76. Nobody else with 15 or more wickets here averages under 20. For where these totals stand against the format’s all-time list, see our page on the highest scores in ODI cricket.
Sheikh Zayed Stadium T20I records
The venue hosted 15 matches at the 2021 T20 World Cup, including the semi-final in which New Zealand beat England. India’s 210/2 against Afghanistan in that tournament is the second-highest T20I total at the ground, behind the 225/7 Ireland made against Afghanistan in the final of the 2013 World Twenty20 Qualifier. It staged games at the 2025 Asia Cup too, among them India’s win over Oman on 19 September 2025.
| Record | Player/team | Figure | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest total | Ireland | 225/7 | v Afghanistan, 2013 |
| Highest total | India | 210/2 | v Afghanistan, 2021 |
| Lowest all-out total | Bangladesh | 84 | v South Africa, 2021 |
| Lowest all-out total | Hong Kong | 87 | v Oman, 2017 |
| Highest score | Shaiman Anwar (UAE) | 117* | v Papua New Guinea, 2017 |
| Highest score | Ross Adair (Ire) | 100 | v South Africa, 2024 |
| Best bowling | Craig Young (Ire) | 4/13 | v Nigeria, 2019 |
| Best bowling | Rohan Mustafa (UAE) | 4/18 | v Ireland, 2019 |
| Record | Player | Total | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most runs | Paul Stirling (Ire) | 406 | 13 |
| Most runs | Shaiman Anwar (UAE) | 299 | 7 |
| Most wickets | Bilal Khan (Oman) | 19 | 12 |
| Most wickets | Rashid Khan (Afg) | 19 | 14 |
Abu Dhabi is one of three UAE grounds that shared the 2020 IPL and the 2021 T20 World Cup. Our other venue guides include Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan’s main home ground.