Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan turned up with the bat on Tuesday. A day later, Martin Guptill justified his prowess in the T20I format to blaze away to a 56-ball 93 and helping New Zealand notch up their second victory of the tournament.
New Zealand have made life difficult for India, who are yet to open their account. The Kiwis are now tied with Afghanistan with four points under their belt.
A spirited Scotland side put up a decent show with the bat but a 173-run target was perhaps a gruelling on a relatively inexperienced batting unit. Michael Leask smoked 20-ball 42 towards the end but could not take his side past the finish line. New Zealand secured a 16-run win and added two more points in their bag.
Martin Guptill masterclass
Martin Guptill whacked sixes for fun en route 56-ball 93, producing nine fours and seven maximums on the eventful day. More than half of his side's runs were scored by Guptill, who became the second batter to score more than 3000 runs in T20 Internationals. He also set the record for sixes in the shortest format.
With 150 sixes in T20Is, Guptill is head and shoulders above the rest. India's Rohit Sharma is second on the list with 134 sixes. Guptill added 105 runs for the fourth wicket with Glenn Phillips (33) to put his team in a commanding position.
Guptill's blitz is the highest individual score for New Zealand in the T20 World Cups. He bettered his own record of scoring 80 in the marquee tournament. Brendon McCullum tops the list with his 123 against Bangladesh back in 2012. Guptill's 93 is also the second highest individual score against Scotland in T20 Internationals.
New Zealand started well by scoring 13 off the first over bowled by Bradley Wheal before Safyaan Sharif gave away just a run in the second. Being just 52/3 at one stage, New Zealand would have doubted their chances of putting an intimidating total on the board. Guptill had other plans.
The prolific run-scorer for New Zealand wasn't shy of taking risks. He may have missed out on the opportunity to become the first New Zealand batter to score a ton in T20 World Cup, but the 30-year-old now has most 90-plus scores (5) in the T20I format. He's jointly-tied with Rohit Sharma at the pole position.
Scotland's late surge
Scotland enjoyed another success right after spin was introduced for the first time, when slow left-armer Mark Watt castled Devon Conway with his very first ball in the seventh over. Only 18 runs came between the 6th and 10 over as Scotland tightened things.
Seamer Sharif got the big wicket of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson for a duck. He became the first bowler to dismiss any member of the 'Fab-4' for a nought in either an ODI or T20 World Cup.
Guptill held fort while his side suffered early setbacks. The Kiwi innings lost a bit of momentum after Guptill's dismissal in the penultimate over but they nevertheless notched up the highest score at the Dubai stadium in this tournament.
Mark Watt impressed again with economical bowling figures of 1/13. He has picked up a wicket in every match that his side has played so far in the T20 World Cup 2021. Bradley Wheal (2/40) and Safyaan Sharif (2/28) picked two wickets each to tighten the screws, but Guptill made merry throughout the innings.
