Southee five-wicket haul leads New Zealand to win over UAE in 1st T20

Captain Tim Southee’s fifer was key in triggering a UAE collapse, with the host losing its last four wickets for just 10 runs and being bowled out with two balls to spare.

New Zealand‘s Mitchell Santner (R) celebrates during the first T20 cricket match between New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on August 17, 2023. | Photo Credit: AFP

Captain Tim Southee took 5-25 to spearhead New Zealand’s 19-run win over the United Arab Emirates in a Twenty20 on Thursday.

A UAE with seven players making their T20 debut was chasing a gettable 156 to win but collapsed after opener Aryansh Sharma was out for a game-high 60 in the 15th over.

The UAE lost its last four wickets for 10 runs and was all out with two balls remaining.

Opener Tim Seifert led New Zealand’s batting with 55 of their first 60 runs, including three sixes.

Made to bat first, New Zealand was 85-5 but got handy late contributions from Jimmy Neesham with 25 off 22 balls, Cole McConchie, 31 not out off 24, and Rachin Ravindra, 21 not out off 11. They finished on 155-6.

The UAE chase started badly when captain Muhammad Waseem was out to the first ball, leg before on the back leg, by Southee. By coincidence, New Zealand lost a wicket to the first ball, too, when Chad Bowes edged Junaid Siddique behind.

Sharma hit three consecutive boundaries off Ben Lister plus two more successively off Kyle Jamieson.

Sharma had the UAE well above the necessary run rate but it began dropping after the 12th over.

Then Southee returned to take out Basil Hameed at 101-5 and Neesham bagged Sharma, whose swipe made Bowes produce a good catch at short extra cover.

Sharma was out for 60 off 43, the highest score by a men’s UAE cricketer on T20 debut.

The last two T20s are this weekend.