After suffering a shock defeat in the second T20I, New Zealand came back strong and defeated minnow United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 32 runs in the third and final T20I at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on August 20 (Sunday). As a result, Tim Southee's men clinched the three-match series by a margin of 2-1.
Chasing a tricky target of 167 runs, UAE's innings never got going as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. UAE's top order crumbled like a pack of cards as none among the top five batters were able to breach the 20-run mark. New Zealand bowlers were right on the money from the onset and stifled UAE batters by bowling in probing channels on a consistent basis.
As UAE batters tried to break free, they kept losing wickets rather than finding the boundaries.
Basil Hameed and Aayan Afzal Khan showed some fight and forged a gritty alliance of 68 runs for the sixth wicket. Afzal Khan scored 42 runs off 36 balls with the help of four fours and a six. Despite his best efforts, UAE could only manage to score 134/7 in 20 overs.
For New Zealand, Ben Lister was the pick of all bowlers as he finished with figures of 3/35 in four overs. Kyle Jamieson, Mitchell Santner and Adithya Ashok bagged a wicket each.
After being asked to bat first, New Zealand rode on half-century knocks from Will Young and Mark Chapman to post a decent score of 166/5 in 20 overs. After losing both the openers cheaply, Young and Chapman forged an 84-run partnership for the third wicket and dug the Black Caps out of a precarious situation.
Young scored 56 runs off 46 balls with the help of seven fours and a six while Chapman smashed 51 runs off 32 balls with the help of five fours and two sixes. After the two set batters departed in the span of 16 runs, Santner played a handy cameo of 20 not out off 11 balls with the help of two fours and a six.
For the UAE, Junaid Siddique was the pick of all bowlers as he finished with figures of 3/26 in four overs. Zahoor Khan and Muhammad Jawadullah chipped in with a wicket each.
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