T20 WC: New Zealand eye victory over UAE
New Zealand will be eager to consolidate their top position in Group D with a second successive victory when they face the United Arab Emirates in a T20 World Cup match on Tuesday. The Kiwis overcame a dangerous Afghanistan by five wickets on Sunday to garner crucial two points, and would now look to maximise their outing against a relatively easier opponent. The win against the Afghans showcased the utility of New Zealand’s long and experienced batting order as they recovered efficiently from a tricky 14 for two while chasing 183 on a slower pitch.
But the Mitchell Santner-led side will want a confidence-boosting outing from Finn Allen and Rachin Ravindra, the two vital cogs in their batting unit. Allen and Ravindra fell to the spin sorcery of Mujeeb ur Rahman in the previous match, and the UAE do not offer the same quality. Therefore, the two top-order batters will be looking to make a heftier score against the Gulf outfit ahead of the all-important match against South Africa.
But one heartening aspect of New Zealand’s win over Afghanistan was the prudence shown by Glenn Phillips while steadying the innings after Mujeeb’s twin blows. An earlier version of Phillips would have resorted to brazen aggression to get out of trouble, but here he showed a welcome trait of getting a grip on the conditions and bowlers before freeing his hands. New Zealand will hope that Phillips, if it gets to that, will play another fine knock to keep him going.
“Glenn’s world class. His experience in this country, he’s had a lot of success in the last few weeks here playing against a very strong India side. I’ve got high hopes for him for the rest of the tournament,” his teammate Lockie Ferguson had said after the match against the Afghans. Similarly, the New Zealand bowlers too showed impressive adaptive skills and variations on a surface that gave them some assistance to keep a potent Afghan batting line-up under check.
But the Kiwis would know the dangers of treating the UAE match as a mere laboratory, particularly after fellow associates USA, Nepal and Netherlands ran their fancied opponents close. In their ranks, the UAE have some experienced campaigners such as skipper Mohammad Waseem, exciting hitter Alishan Sharafu and seasoned pacer Junaid Siddique, who can spring a surprise or two on their day.
Waseem reached 3000 T20I runs in just 84 innings, just behind Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, who reached the mark in 81 innings. Irrespective of the fairly predictable outcome of the match, the UAE players would relish the chance to learn from the experience of playing against a legacy side like New Zealand. It would be their biggest takeaway.
