The United Arab Emirates wrote its name in the history pages. United Arab Emirates won by 7 wickets against mighty New Zealand in Dubai on Saturday. Set to bat against a target of 143 runs given by New Zealand, they reached the target with 26 balls to spare. This is UAE’s first win against New Zealand in any format.
The hosts won the toss and invited New Zealand to bat. Muhammad Wasim’s team was giving glimpses of aggressive cricket from the beginning. In the third over, Jawadullah showed the way to the dressing room for the in-form team Seifert. Then the captain brought in the young left arm spinner Ayan to bowl in the powerplay on a spin assisted pitch and there it was. The 17-year-old young spinner sent Mitchell Santner and Dan Claver to the sack in his second over. The Kiwis lost 4 wickets for only 38 runs.
Mark Chapman and Cole McConchie added 27 runs in the fifth wicket partnership to manage the situation. Later, when Neesham and Chapman added 53 runs in the sixth wicket, the visitors reached a respectable score of 142 runs for 8 wickets. Mark Chapman scored 63 runs off 46 balls. Ayan Afzal Khan became the highest wicket taker with 3 wickets for just 20 runs. Besides, Ali Nasser, Zahoor Khan and Farajuddin took 1 wicket each.
In response, UAE did not get off to a good start. Aryansh Sharma returned to the pavilion with Southee’s ball and Neesham’s brilliant catch before adding runs to the scoreboard. However, captain Muhammad Wasim and Vrat Arvind added 40 runs in the second wicket pair. Wasim scored 55 runs off just 29 balls and laid the groundwork for Emirates’ victory. In the end, Asif took Asil Hamid with 26 balls in hand and brought the team to the port of victory. Asif remained unbeaten with 48 runs off 29 balls, 5 fours and 1 six.
It should be noted that with this victory, the UAE returned to a 1-1 tie in the three-match T20 series.
(20th August/SI/FA)