New Zealand Vs UAE, ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Tim Seifert And Finn Allen Seal Record 10-Wicket Win For Kiwis

New Zealand produced a commanding performance to outclass the United Arab Emirates by 10 wickets in their Group D encounter at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

United Arab Emirates national cricket team elected to bat first and managed a competitive 173/6 in their 20 overs, with skipper Muhammad Waseem anchoring the innings with a well-crafted 66 and Alishan Sharafu contributing a fluent 55.

Their partnership steadied the innings after early blows and gave UAE a respectable total to defend, with useful cameos from others pushing the score past the 170-run mark.

In reply, the Black Caps wasted no time asserting dominance. Openers Tim Seifert and Finn Allen produced a breathtaking display, stitching together an unbeaten 175-run partnership, the highest for any wicket in T20 World Cup history, to chase down the target in just 15.2 overs. Both batters struck with intent from the outset, consistently finding gaps and punishing anything loose, leaving UAE’s bowlers with little respite.

NZ vs UAE, ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Toss

United Arab Emirates have won the toss and have opted to bat.

NZ vs UAE, ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Playing XIs

United Arab Emirates: Aryansh Sharma (w), Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Mayank Kumar, Sohaib Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Arfan, Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Rohid Khan.

New Zealand: Tim Seifert (w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), James Neesham, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy.

NZ vs UAE, ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Captain Speak

Mitchell Santner: It looks like a good wicket to be fair, we were thinking of batting as well but I think it will play the same throughout. Same team, similar make up as the other day. That was the first day I've seen grass on a wicket in Chennai, that was black soil and this is red soil, usually there will be little more bounce. I think these days, you have to watch a lot of video. I mean, there's obviously a bit of franchise stuff these days, and you can find footage from anywhere. So, again, we only had a day between games. So yesterday was, I guess, that was up for us. Looking at some stuff and looking at some plans, there's going to be a bigger side today and using the smarts. They are a good team, as we know. They rely on a few players but you look at their squad it looks really good. And on these surfaces - slightly slower - they can be tricky, we have got to be on and we know that.

Muhammad Waseem: We are going to bat first because the pitch is looking good, it will be the same for both the innings, Inshallah we will try to put a good total on the board. (about the team combination) It is a difficult for us, but we are going with a good combaination of spinners and fast bowlers, so it will work for us. We also want to show the world the way we are playing T20 and the abilities the boys have, they are good in T20 and we will play excellent cricket here. It is a tough group but we are ready for that challenge. We have come here with a different mindset and plan, we will go game by game and today we will go with this game, we will think about the upcoming games. The confidence is good, but different venue and different tournament, so I will try my best and try to lead the team from the front.

NZ vs UAE, ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Live Streaming

The match 11 of ICC T20 Cricket World Cup between the NZ and UAE will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network. It will also be streamed live on the JioHotstar app. The match will begin at 3:00 PM IST.