Southee takes 5-wicket haul as New Zealand off to winning start against UAE in first T20
- 17 Aug 2023
Mohammad Abdullah
UAE put up a spirited fight before going down against an experienced New Zealand by 19 runs in the first match of the T20 series at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday night.
Aryansh Sharma played a gritty innings to lead the UAE fightback, but failed to take them over the line eventually.
Tim Southee took a five-wicket haul to lead New Zealand to a nervy victory. After posting a fighting total of 155/6, New Zealand restricted UAE to 136. Chasing a target of 156 runs to win, UAE got off to a disastrous start. They lost the wicket of captain Mohammad Waseem off the very first ball of the innings for a golden duck.
It was Southee who triggered the collapse and by taking first two wickets cheaply. Southee trapped his UAE counterpart Waseem in front of the stumps. He is one of the best and the most dangerous batsmen of UAE. His dismissal on the very first ball pushed the UAE on the backfoot.
UAE needed someone to play a sheet-anchor role to stitch the innings. Vriitya Arvind and Sharma had the responsibility of taking the UAE out of the rut.
But Arvind, who is one of the most senior players in the side, could not last long and was dismissed with just 15 runs on the board. He scored 13 off 10 balls with the help of two boundaries before Southee had him caught by Lister for his second scalp.
Sharma and Asif Khan started to build the innings. Both the batsmen played with determination and added 47 runs for the third wicket to keep the chase alive.
Asif was caught by Santner off his bowling. UAE kept on losing the wickets on regular intervals. But Aryansh was waging the lone battle singlehandedly. Aryansh brought up his fifty off 37 deliveries with a single. After reaching his maiden fifty, Aryansh started to cut loose. He added another ten runs before being caught by Bowes off Neesham.
After his dismissal, Aayan Aryan Khan and Naseer Ali tried to take the match as deep as possible. Southee returned to finish the job and got rid of Aayan Khan, Basil Hameed and Junaid Siddique as UAE could manage to muster 136.
Earlier, Junaid gave the UAE a dream start as he got rid of opener Chad Bowes for a golden duck. Junaid had him caught behind the wickets by an agile wicketkeeper Sharma.
The fall of the first wicket off the first ball of the match with zero runs on the board pushed New Zealand on the backfoot.
New Zealand needed somebody to stay on the crease and share a big partnership to anchor the faltering innings. That’s exactly what Seifert did along with Dane Cleaver.
Seifert and Cleaver knuckled down to put the innings back on track. They batted wisely and shared a 51-run partnership for the second wicket.
The duo batted with a resolute and kept the UAE bowlers at bay. Seifert was at his brutal best. Not only did he manage to build the partnership but also kept the scoreboard moving with big shots.
In the 51-run partnership, Cleaver scored only four runs before falling prey to Zahoor Khan, who had him caught by Ali Naseer.
Zahoor broke the dangerous looking partnership to bring some respite to the UAE camp. Seifert brought up his fifty with a couple off Naseer in 30 deliveries.
In the next over, Basil Hamid struck twice in quick succession to peg back New Zealand.
He got rid of dangerous man Seifert by getting him caught by Aayan to reduce New Zealand to 60/3. Seifert belted 55 off 35 balls with the help of two fours and three sixes.
With two new batsmen — Mitchell Santner and Mark Chapman on the crease, New Zealand were in dire need of a big partnership. While the UAE bowlers had a chance to keep the pressure on.
Hameed struck again in the same over to send Santner back. He uprooted the stumps of Santner to give the UAE fourth wicket. With just 60 runs on the board and top four batsmen back in the pavilion, UAE had a chance to restrict New Zealand to an under par total.
But they failed to capitalise on it and spurned a golden opportunity to thwart New Zealand to a modest score.
The onus of reviving the faltering innings fell on James Neesham and Chapman. They added 21 runs for the fifth wicket before Chapman holed out to Sharma off debutant Mohammed Farazuddin, handing him the first wicket of his career.
