UAE show fight before going down to New Zealand

United Arab Emirates (UAE) showed lot of grit and determination as they stretched New Zealand in the first of the three T20 Internationals in Dubai on Thursday night.

They first restricted the Kiwis to 155/6 in 20 overs and then scored 136 all out in 19.4 overs, falling short by just 19 runs. They were in the game till the 17th over, needing 30 runs in 19 deliveries with four wickets in hand.

However, they couldn’t keep up with the chase as New Zealand skipper Tim Southee ended the day with five wickets for 25 runs in four overs to earn the Man of the Match award.

Right-handed wicketkeeper batsman Aryansh Sharma (in pic) top-scored with 60 runs (43 balls) while Basil Hameed (2/30) was the most successful bowler.  

UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem jokingly promised 400 samosas to Sharma for his performance.

“From my side 500 [samosas] to Aryansh for that innings,” said Waseem during presentation after the match.

He also expressed happiness at playing against New Zealand.

“It's an honour for us to play New Zealand. We were close to winning but we lost because of lack of experience. We were talking about taking the game deep but we lost early wickets. I'm happy with the performance from my team. Hopefully we can do well in the next game.”

Tim Southee, the Kiwis captain, said, “They (UAE) are a growing side and they showed it tonight.”

Kyle Jamieson, who is playing after a year, returned with figures of 1/20 in 2.4 overs.

Brief scores: New Zealand 155/6 in 20 overs (Tim Seifert 55, Cole McConchie 31 not out, James Neesham 25, Basil Hameed 2/30, Junaid Siddique 2/35) beat UAE 136 all out in 19.4 overs (Aryansh Sharma 60, Tim Southee 5/25)

Cricket, UAE, ICC, New Zealand, Tim Southee, Kyle Jamieson, Aryansh Sharma