Chennai, Feb 10 (.) Blistering unbeaten half centuries by openers Tim Seifert and Finn Allen
helped New Zeland score a commanding 10 wicket win over United Arab Emirates (UAE) in
a Group D match of the T20 World Cup at the M A Chidambaram Stadium here on Tuesday.
Earlier, batting first, thanks to well crafted half centuries by Captain Muhammad Waseem, who
led from the front, and No.3 Alishan Sharafu guided UAE to a respectable 173 for six in their
opening contest of this edit9on.
Batting first, Wassem, who opened the innings lost fellow opener in the second over, but in
the company of Alishan held the innings together.
Waseem remained unbeaten on 66 (45 balls, 4×4, 3×6), while Alishan’s 55 came in 47 balls
with five fours and two sixers and UAE ended up with a good total, which however, proved
very little for the strong Kiwi side in the end.
Set to score 174 for win, the Kiwi openers bludgeoned the UAE attack and blowed them to
smithreens overhauling the target with 28 balls to spare for its second win in this Group of
D which also featured tough contenders Afghanistan and South Africa.
The Kiwis raced to the arget scoring 175 without loss in just 15.2 overs with Siefert hammering
an unbeaten 89 in 42 balls (12 fours and three sixers) and Allen too joining the party pummelling
the UAE bowlers scoring 84 in just 50 balls (5 fours and 5 sixers), making a mincemeat of what
said to be good total, on a pitch which appeared very conducive for stroke making.
The unbeaten 175 run stand for the opening wicket is the highest stand for any wicket
in a men’s T20 World Cup and fittingly Siefert, who treated the bowlers with utter disdain,
ended the game with a huge six and earned his second consecutive Player of the match
award.
The Kiwis scored 58 in the first five overs, despite UAE’s most experienced spinner Haider Ali
bowling two economic overs–opening the bowler–and conceded just two runs. The total swelled
to 78 for no loss at the end of power play as pacer Muhammed Rohid leaked 34 runs in two overs,
while pacer Dhruv Prashar and fellow pacer Matt Henry too bore the brunt of the NZ openers.
Both Siefert and Allen made the chase look simple as both of them dealt with fours and sixers.
as more than 75 per cent of the runs came in boundaries. In all they struck 17 fours and eight
maximums as the contest ended early.
Piking up boundaries at will and hitting the ball to all parts of the ground, the Kiwis reached the
half way mark at 199 for no loss and took just another 32 balls to cross the finishing line, scoring
56 runs.
While Rohid conceded 51 runs in 3.1 overs, another experienced pacer Junaid Siddique went for
47 runs in four overs, Muhammad Arfan leaking 36 in three. Only Haider Ali commanded some
respect and returned with an economic spell of 4-0-27-0.
. GV 1825