‘Phir bhi NZ final khelegi WC mai’ – Fans react as UAE beat New Zealand by 7 wickets in second T20I

The United Arab Emirates scripted history as they became the first associate team to beat New Zealand in a T20I match. In the second T20I of the bilateral series between the two teams, the UAE’s men’s team defeated the touring New Zealand side by 7 wickets. UAE won the match comfortably, as they chased a target of 143 runs with 26 balls to spare, which is a very good feat indeed.  

Nothing went right for New Zealand in the match, right from the toss. The UAE captain Muhammad Waseem won the toss and elected to bowl first on a typical slow track in Dubai. The conditions were similar to the 2021 T20 World Cup, where chasing the targets was easy as compared to setting the totals. UAE made the best use of the toss they won.  

All round performance from UAE players

After 6.2 overs, UAE bowlers had New Zealand at 38/4. The home side was on fire in the Powerplay overs with the ball. The likes of Tim Seifert, Mitchell Santner, Dane Cleaver, and Chad Bowes were all dismissed in quick time. Aayan Khan was exceptional with the new ball and claimed 3 out of the top 4 batters of the Kiwi lineup. New Zealand was in trouble straight away.  

Mark Chapman played the rescue act for the visiting side. The Southpaw stayed in the middle and tried to build a partnership. The 29-year-old scored 63 runs in 46 balls, which included 3 fours and 4 sixes. Due to the efforts of the middle-order batter, New Zealand posted a respectable total of 142 runs in their 20 overs, which looked difficult at one point in time.  

Chasing the target, UAE looked firm in its approach. Since the target was not huge, the batters started slowly. With wickets in their hand, the UAE batters adopted an aggressive approach in the middle overs. Captain Muhammad Waseem and Asif Khan smashed the bowlers for fun and played good knocks. The duo helped UAE to script a famous win, which will be remembered for a long time.   

Here’s how the fans reacted to the news: 

https://twitter.com/BabarAzamAOC/status/1692949935690240461?s=20

N they say cricket is not growing

— Harshit (@balchodbkl) August 19, 2023

https://twitter.com/InfinityAbhay/status/1692952049321959465?s=20

https://twitter.com/HrithiksAvenger/status/1692953555798524008?s=20

https://twitter.com/1no_aalsi_/status/1692951166060265498?s=20

It’s another Indian team

— User45 (@140off113) August 19, 2023

Everyone to UAE : pic.twitter.com/BkIWAnqt3p

— UmdarTamker (@UmdarTamker) August 19, 2023

Congratulations UAE! pic.twitter.com/iFuDs2BHtN

— Sammy Alex M. (@alexcrypto22) August 19, 2023

New Zealand inspired from Pakistani Team

— Anshu Chauhan (@chauhandwarrior) August 19, 2023

https://twitter.com/kunalspits/status/1692956931022029040?s=20