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As Tim Southee poses alongside his teammates with the trophy, we come to the conclusion of our coverage of the 3-match T20I series between the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand. UAE put up an inspirational fight, one that'll stir motivation for all associate cricket nations, but this New Zealand side, having fielded a few fresh faces, proved to be too good at the end. Regardless to say, both sides have plenty of positives to take from this tour. As always, there's plenty of cricketing action to come tomorrow, so do keep an eye on our tabs for our coverage of the same! This is Rajarshi, signing off on behalf of Bala. See you later!
Tim Southee, New Zealand captain: Today was our best performance this series by far. All that you can ask for. Good way to finish the series. Great to see the debutants today, they put in some great performances in domestic cricket over the years. Good to see them exposed at this level, and they have started off well. The heat's been a big factor in this tour, UAE has been hot and sweaty. The guys adjusted pretty well, these are the things you do when you tour, and they did a great job.
Mark Chapman is the Player Of The Series! Here's what he has to say: It was nice for the boys to rebound today and put a complete performance together! Nice to get the series win. The way that Will played, he really put the pressure back on their bowling, and then our job became a lot easier. Nice to put some runs on the board and give some bowlers something to bowl at. Games are always tough against full-nation teams, UAE played beautifully. Associate nations can compete in this format the most, and they can go from strength to strength.
Will Young (Player of the Match): Interesting sitting out for two games. They (UAE) are a fantastic side, played beautifully. I got a chance to go out there today and do it. Looked a similar wicket to the first game, also had a bit of grass. It was a bit two-paced early on but levelled out later.
Muhammad Waseem (captain, United Arab Emirates): We were going for the chase, but we did not get a good start. After that we struggled in the middle. The wicket was very good, 166 was chaseable. We did not get a good start. I was going for the attack, I was looking for a good start. Wanted to have 50-55 runs in the (first) six overs. We are very thankful to the supporters and also to our management. I am very happy with the way my team played against a team like New Zealand.
Match summary:
New Zealand win by 32 runs
Will Young 56(46) | Ben Lister 3/35 (4) Aayan Afzal Khan 42(36) | Junaid Siddique 3/26 (4)
They had their moments of scare, moments of learnings, and now, this inexperienced New Zealand side have their moment of triumph! They clinched the crucial moments in a crucial game, fought back incredibly well with the ball, and proved to be too good for a really spirited United Arab Emirates side! The hosts just couldn't replicate their batting performance this time around, but have certainly gained plenty over the course of these three matches!
The wicket of Muhammad Waseem early on, after Tim Southee produced a maiden first over, having Aryansh Sharma on strings, pegged UAE onto the back foot right away. Aryansh recovered from that first over, and in partnership with Vriitya Aravind, looked to get UAE back in the chase. Aravind was just starting to look good when he toe-ended a pull shot towards Young at mid wicket, and had to depart.
Mitchell Santner and Adithya Ashok then went on to choke the runs with success. As a result, the wickets continued to tumble - Aryansh Sharma, Asif Khan and Ansh Tandon all fell in quick succession, the latter of the three being run out by some athletic work on the field from Will Young. Santner and Ashok bowled their four overs in tandem, and swung the game heavily in favour of the Blackcaps.
With the chips down, one would have expected a meek capitulation from the hosts right then, but Aayan Afzal Khan kept believing. The 17-year-old, in partnership with Basil Hameed - 14 years older than him, went on to steer UAE back in contention. He picked the right deliveries to attack, ran hard between the wickets with the exception of the odd bad call, and started to find the boundaries. While Hameed was struggling for timing at the other end, Aayan kept fighting, but it was going to be too much for him eventually.
The 16th over from Kyle Jamieson, which saw him bowl four dots in a row to Basil Hameed, knocked the air right out of the Emirates. The equation went from 65 off 30 to 63 off 24, and from then on, the Kiwis were always going to close the game their way. Lister, Southee and Jamieson then went on to close the game out clinically. In the end, New Zealand took the game and the series, the margin of victory being 32 runs.
An anti-climatic end to what has been a rather unexpectedly intriguing series! New Zealand had their moments of scare, but they'll depart the Emirates having secured a 2-1 series win over the hosts with the help of a 32-run victory!
20
overs
134/7score
5wd
1
0
0
0
1
0
runs
Junaid Siddique*
2(3)
Basil Hameed
26(28)
Kyle Jamieson
1/24
19.6 Kyle Jamieson to Junaid Siddique, moves way across the stumps shaping up for a ramp. Attempts a slog in the end but makes no contact nevertheless. Comfortable victory for New Zealand, they win the series 2-1
19.5 Kyle Jamieson to Basil Hameed, slower ball short of a good length. Pulls it to deep square leg for a single
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Dubai International Cricket Stadium
Junaid Siddique
*
Kyle Jamieson
Video
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