Captain Mohammad Waseem smashed a chancy half-century and led United Arab Emirates to an emphatic win over a scratchy New Zealand to level their Twenty20 series this morning (NZT).
Waseem capitalized on two dropped catches and aced the run chase with a 29-ball 55 as UAE romped to 144-3 for a seven-wicket win with more than three overs to spare, and one of the best victories in a T20 against a test-playing nation.
New Zealand’s top order was strangled by the left-arm spin of Aaayan Afzal Khan, who took 3-20, before Mark Chapman’s fighting 63 off 46 balls lifted the Kiwis to 142-8.
Defending that total, the New Zealand bowlers got little support from their fielders as Kyle Jamiesen dropped a sitter off Waseem inside the batting powerplay after James Neesham plucked a stunner in the slips to dismiss Aryansh Sharma in the first over.
Waseem smashed three sixes and four boundaries and shared two valuable stands. He contributed 40 with Vriitya Aravind (25) for the second wicket and 56 with Asif Khan, who went unbeaten on 48.
