T20 World Cup 2025/26, NZ vs UAE 11th Match, Group D Match Report, February 10, 2026

Ravi Singh

4 hours ago

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New Zealand 175 for 0 (Seifert 89*, Allen 84*) beat United Arab Emirates 173 for 6 (Waseem 66, Sharafu 55, Henry 2-37) by ten wickets

There was the odd hiccup or two. Glenn Phillips bowling the 18th over and giving up 27 runs. James Neesham turning a leg bye into an all-run four with an overthrow. But in the end, New Zealand wrapped up the win that was expected of them against UAE – with all ten wickets and 27 balls to spare – and look in good shape to make the Super Eights.

Waseem and Sharafu hit out

An even-paced pitch and its location on the square – making one side of the ground smaller than the other – resulted in the batters really enjoying themselves.

The logic behind their strokeplay really stood out. Sharafu (55 off 47) backed away against Mitchell Santner and carved him over cover point for four. That shot was about getting the odds in his favour – hitting with the turn and to the short boundary. Waseem (66 off 45) backed his upper cut off Matt Henry’s slower bouncer because short third was inside the circle. It was high-percentage cricket in a high-pressure situation.

NZ’s attack under pressure

New Zealand’s bowlers had a really tough time against India in the bilateral series leading up to this World Cup. Huffing and puffing against UAE, who had crumbled to 81 all out in a warm-up game in Chennai against Italy, isn’t the kind of confidence boost they’re in need of

Phillips bowling in the death was odd. The four overs leading up to it had brought only 17 runs and two wickets. This one over alone yielded 27, including a wide, a no-ball four and a free-hit six. All while frontline quick Jacob Duffy had two overs left.

NZ’s bash brothers

Allen and Seifert knocked off almost half the target in the powerplay itself. The 78 runs they put on together included nine fours and four sixes, which amount to a balls per boundary ratio of 2.77. This is a strength Santner had alluded to in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Afghanistan game, and it came good to take New Zealand to a 2-0 record in the group of death.

Allen showed game awareness when he played out UAE’s pinpoint accurate spin bowler, Haider Ali, and took down their quicks with ease instead. He had tried to do too much against Mujeeb Ur Rahman and lost his stumps during their previous match against Afghanistan. Here, even when Haider tempted him with mid-off up, he held back his big shots.

Seifert backed up his 39-ball fifty on Sunday with a 23-ball fifty today, continuing his path to becoming a high-volume batter instead of his previous version, where he was a high-variance batter. He didn’t have any trouble taking on Haider as the game neared its conclusion, reverse-hitting him for a six and then a four. New Zealand’s bash brothers were in full flow so the chase didn’t last beyond the 16th over.

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