Allen–Seifert Blitz Flattens UAE as NZ Cruise Home
News Desk
Chennai: New Zealand delivered a statement performance in Chennai, crushing UAE by ten wickets with 27 balls to spare to stay firmly on course for the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup.
What was expected on paper became emphatic on the field, thanks largely to a ferocious powerplay assault from Finn Allen and Tim Seifert.
Chasing 174 on an even-paced but dimensionally tricky Chepauk surface, New Zealand virtually ended the contest in the first six overs.
Allen and Seifert tore into the UAE attack, racing to 78 without loss in the powerplay — New Zealand’s third-highest powerplay score in men’s T20 World Cup history. Nine fours and four sixes flew into the stands, boundaries coming at a rate of one every 2.77 balls.
Allen, tall and brutal down the ground, played to his strengths, particularly against pace, while Seifert’s innovation and placement all around the wicket kept the field scrambling.
Seifert fell after a rapid cameo, but Allen marched on to a confidence-boosting fifty, backing up his 39-ball half-century against Afghanistan and continuing his shift from “hit or miss” to reliably destructive.
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Earlier, UAE had shown commendable fight with the bat. Captain Muhammad Waseem once again underlined his importance, batting through the innings for a polished 66 not out — his tenth score among the top 20 individual UAE T20I knocks.
Alishan Sharafu, just 23 and increasingly a pillar in pressure situations, grew from a scratchy 16 off 18 into a fluent 50 off 39, delighting a crowd of around 16,000.
The pair put up stern resistance on a ground where one square boundary was notably shorter than the other, cleverly using angles and power. Sharafu’s duel with Mitchell Santner was a highlight — a proper game of cat and mouse — before his innings ended to a moment of brilliance in the deep.
Mark Chapman leapt backwards at deep midwicket to parry the ball, with Daryl Mitchell completing a smart relay catch from long-on.
Despite those efforts, UAE’s momentum was uneven. New Zealand’s bowling had its hiccups, most notably Glenn Phillips’ expensive 18th over that went for 27 runs, raising questions about the decision to hold back specialist seamer Jacob Duffy.
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Phillips’ offspin drifted into the hitting arc, and Waseem and Mayank Kumar cashed in. Still, New Zealand pulled things back enough to restrict UAE to 173.
Fielding remained a New Zealand strength throughout. Phillips himself redeemed an earlier bowling gamble with a stunning full-length dive to save a certain boundary, drawing warm applause and a mid-innings low-five from Mitchell — even after a drinks break.
When New Zealand came out to bat, the result felt inevitable.
Allen finished the job in style, and with no wickets lost, the Black Caps underlined both their batting depth and their growing tournament momentum.
For UAE, there were positives in Waseem’s form and Sharafu’s maturity, but against a rampaging New Zealand top order, it was never going to be enough. For the Black Caps, the “bash brothers” are up and running — and looking dangerous at just the right time.
