Put in to bat, New Zealand were led by Seifert’s 66 off 31 at the top, studded with 10 fours and two sixes. Saurabh Netravalkar removed Devon Conway for 16 and Mohammad Mohsin had Mark Chapman for 17 before Phillips hammered 40 off 18 balls, with four fours and three sixes to his name. Mitchell’s 32 off 21 and cameos from Mitchell Santner and James Neesham powered New Zealand past 200.
USA were jolted early with a duck to opener Andries Gous as Henry took a return catch on the first ball of the chase. While Mukkamalla kept going, No. 3 Shayan Jahangir fell for 2 off 5 before Mukkamalla found a partner in Monank. They put on 59 runs for the third wicket before Ish Sodhi bowled Monank and had Mukkamalla caught for 50 in consecutive overs.
Milind Kumar soon smashed 43 off 26 and Ranjane 41 off 23 balls but Henry had both of them caught as USA brought it down to 27 off the final two and 12 off the last over. But Henry’s twin-wicket over for just four runs sealed it for New Zealand.
USA will play their tournament opener against India on February 7 in Mumbai. New Zealand will play theirs the next day, against Afghanistan in Chennai.
