Commanding undefeated half-centuries from Tim Seifert and Finn Allen drove New Zealand to a comprehensive 10-wicket victory against the United Arab Emirates in their Group D encounter in Chennai on Tuesday. Seifert hammered an undefeated 99 from 42 deliveries, featuring a six that secured consecutive victories for New Zealand, while Allen remained not out on 84 from 50 balls. Pursuing 174 for victory, the Black Caps reached their target with 28 deliveries remaining, finishing at 183/0. The Seifert-Allen stand represents the record partnership for any wicket in T20 World Cup history. Previously, Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu struck half-centuries to propel the UAE to a challenging score of 173/6. UAE skipper Waseem concluded unbeaten on 66 from 45 deliveries, while Sharafu compiled a 47-ball 55. New Zealand’s Matt Henry recorded bowling figures of 2/37.
TOSS-
United Arab Emirates won the toss and elected to bat first.
PLAYING XI-
United Arab Emirates (Playing XI):
Aryansh Sharma(w), Muhammad Waseem(c), Alishan Sharafu, Mayank Kumar, Sohaib Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Arfan, Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Rohid Khan
New Zealand (Playing XI):
Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), James Neesham, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES-
Following UAE’s decision to bat first, Jacob Duffy dismissed Aryansh Sharma with a short delivery. However, captain Muhammad Waseem (66*) and Alishan Sharafu (55) constructed a 107-run partnership from 77 deliveries that momentarily troubled New Zealand. Sharafu assumed control early, striking three boundaries against Matt Henry while Waseem cleared the boundary against Duffy as UAE concluded the PowerPlay at 50/1.
The spin bowling of Rachin Ravindra and Mitchell Santner constrained their progress significantly. Just 34 runs were accumulated across the following five overs before Sharafu found relief against Lockie Ferguson, extracting 15 runs from his over. Sharafu continued with a six to complete his half-century but fell immediately following the drinks interval to Santner.
The UAE team was surely facing difficulties against spin bowling, and moreover, Glenn Phillips dismissed Harshit Kaushik during the 16th over. New Zealand took too much risk regarding Phillips as per their bowling plan, as the spinner gave away 27 runs in the 18th over and UAE got new hope. New Zealand finished the innings very well as we are seeing they took three wickets and gave only 17 runs in the last two overs. Waseem said that New Zealand was only 15 runs short at the break and we are seeing that they could not match New Zealand’s strong batting in the end.
NEW ZEALAND-
The big hitting actually started in the second over when they definitely smashed Muhammad Rohid Khan for three fours, after getting only three runs from left-arm spinner Haider Ali’s first over. Allen and Seifert hit many runs against Junaid Siddique in one over where we are seeing 22 runs scored, and UAE only made more problems for themselves with poor fielding. Dhruv Parashar surely gave away 14 runs in his over, and moreover, Seifert dominated Rohid by hitting three boundaries and one six to help New Zealand reach 78/0 at the end of PowerPlay.
Further, basically Seifert completed his 50 runs from 23 balls while Haider bowled the same quiet over again. Moreover, seifert actually survived when the other team asked for a review because the ball was just touching the leg stump. The umpire definitely kept his original decision of not out. Further, siddique surely did not have the same fortune as Allen began to take charge of the scoring. Moreover, Allen clearly started to dominate the game while Siddique struggled. The team surely crossed 100 runs in the ninth over, and moreover, Allen also reached his half-century at the same time.
Seifert actually hit Haider for two reverse sweeps in his last two balls, and Haider definitely finished with 4 overs, 0 maidens, 27 runs, 0 wickets. Also, allen hit a big shot over deep mid-wicket as per which New Zealand crossed 150 runs in the 14th over, and then Seifert played a falling shot over backward-point regarding the boundary. Seifert then finished the match itself in a comprehensive manner by hitting a six down the ground, which further sealed the victory.
Brief Scores:
New Zealand defeated United Arab Emirates by 10 wickets, chasing down UAE’s total of 173/6 in just 15.2 overs. UAE’s batting was led by Muhammad Waseem (66) and Alishan Sharafu (55), but New Zealand’s openers Tim Seifert (89) and Finn Allen (84*) further dominated the chase itself without losing any wickets.
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