New Zealand batter Mark Chapman isn’t surprised by what he’s seen of the UAE in the first two games. After a narrow miss in the first T20I, UAE finally managed to get over the line against New Zealand in the second T20I in Dubai, recording arguably their biggest victory across white-ball formats.
Chapman top-scored with 63 off 46 but New Zealand’s 142/8 wasn’t enough on the night.
“I think we’ve seen associate cricket is going from strength to strength,” Chapman said after NZ’s seven-wicket loss. “The T20 World Cup in Australia highlighted that with some associate nations turning over some Test nations.
“Certainly no surprise to see the way they’ve played and the confidence they have with some really strong local tournaments here. It’s producing some good talent.”
New Zealand weren’t at their best throughout the game, first scrambling against teenage spinner Aayan Afzal Khan (3 for 20) to what was a below-par total and then topping it off with three dropped catches, reprieving UAE’s captain and top-scorer Muhammad Waseem twice.
“I think similar to the first game we lost wickets throughout and weren’t able to establish any partnerships and put some pressure back on the bowling,” Chapman said.
“A similar theme (in this second match) where we had to scrap to a score and it just showed it probably wasn’t enough on that wicket.”
Waseem was all praise for Aayan. “He is a future UAE star,” he said. “And the biggest thing is that he never takes pressure no matter who he is bowling against.
“We are very happy. We played against New Zealand, a Test-playing team and we beat them. Our bowlers did a fantastic job and then our batsmen were able to finish the match. Hopefully we will be able to win tomorrow as well.”
Waseem also thanked the crowd for their support and urged more people to come and attend the decider.
“The crowd has been great in the first two matches. We lost the first game but today we were able to finish the game. The support from the crowd was amazing and we hope to see more people for our last game.”