New Zealand avoided a scary defeat in the first T20I match against United Arab Emirates (UAE) to clinch a 19-run win at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, August 17. UAE produced an impressive all-round performance but Kiwi skipper Tim Southee picked five wickets to give his team a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.
UAE won the toss and elected to bowl first with the 18-year-old wicketkeeper batter Aryansh Sharma making his debut. New Zealand, playing without key and senior players, struggled for a good start while batting. Junaid Siddique dismissed Chad Bowes on the innings' very first delivery and the star pacer Zahoor Khan removed wicketkeeper Dane Cleaver in the sixth over to add early pressure on the visiting side.
But in-form Tim Seifert recorded a brilliant quick fifty, his third in the last five overall innings, to balance the game. Seifert scored 55 off 34 balls but lacked support from the other end. UAE bowlers dominated the middle overs with New Zealand down six wickets with just 109 runs on the scoreboard. But Cole McConchie and Rachin Ravindra played valuable knocks in death overs to put 155 for 6 in 20 overs.
While defending a low score, Southee gave his team a flying start with UAE captain Muhammad Waseem's wicket on the first delivery of the game. But UAE remained alive in the chase with debutant Aryansh smashing a brilliant fifty to announce his entry in T20I cricket. But he lacked meaningful partnerships with no other UAE batter registering 20-plus scores.
UAE were leading the game when Aryansh was batting with 114 for five in 14.5 overs. But UAE witnessed a quick collapse after the youngster's departure in the 15th over. Southee struck late to bowl out UAE on just 136 runs in 19.4 overs. Sothee recorded his second five-wicket haul in T20Is and is now only one wicket behind Shakib Al Hasan's record of 140 wickets in T20Is.
UAE Playing XI: Muhammad Waseem (c), Aryansh Sharma (wk), Vriitya Aravind, Asif Khan, Ansh Tandon, Basil Hameed, Ali Naseer, Aayan Khan, Mohammed Faraazuddin, Junaid Siddique, Zahoor Khan
New Zealand Playing XI: Tim Seifert, Chad Bowes, Dane Cleaver (wk), Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, James Neesham, Rachin Ravindra, Cole McConchie, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee (c), Ben Lister
