Tim Seifert and Finn Allen produced a world record opening partnership of 175 runs as New Zealand thrashed the United Arab Emirates by 10 wickets in a Group C match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday. The openers from New Zealand took the flimsy bowling of their UAE counterparts apart and won convincingly to make it two out of two at Chennai for New Zealand, while the UAE were left without a win and frustrated.
UAE captain Mohammed Waseem won the toss and opted to bat on a true, bouncy pitch. The intention was there right away, but Aryansh Sharma got things off to a poor start when he miscued a quick delivery from Jacob Duffy and was dismissed for 12 runs at 1/12.
After Sharma's dismissal, Waseem and Alishan Sharafu got together to bat and took complete control of the innings. The New Zealand pace attack had little impact on them as they put together an impressive second-wicket partnership of 107 runs off just 77 balls.
Both Waseem and Sharafu scored fluent half-centuries, with Sharafu reaching his fifty first before Waseem brought up his 29th T20I half-century. Finally, New Zealand fought back through Mitchell Santner, who dismissed Sharafu for 55, and then in the next over, Glenn Phillips.
New Zealand restricted the UAE to 10 runs off 18 balls and picked up 2 wickets, giving New Zealand a momentary foothold to take back the momentum. The squeeze was broken in grand style during the 18th over, when Mayank Kumar and Waseem attacked Phillips for 27 runs each.
UAE registered a score of 150, and some more late hits lifted their final total to 173/6 in 20 overs - the highest T20 World Cup innings ever recorded by the UAE. Waseem's innings ended at 66 not out, whilst the New Zealand bowlers were outstanding through Matt Henry (2-37) and Santner (1-23).
Seifert and Allen batted with an intensity that was impossible to stop right from the beginning. New Zealand sped through the Powerplay, scoring 78 runs in six overs, ruthlessly putting the UAE's fast bowlers to the sword. Overs of 20 and 22 runs were soul-destroying and eliminated any chance that the UAE had of getting back into the contest.
Both openers reached their half-centuries in no time at all, and the first 100-run partnership occurred quickly, as the ball continued to sail over the boundary time after time after time. Finn Allen was the more “subdued” of the two batters as he finished his innings with 84 runs from 50 balls, while Tim Seifert was a bull in a china shop, scoring 89 runs from only 42 balls.
They created an unbroken opening partnership of 175 runs, which is statistically the highest opening partnership in T20 World Cup history, surpassing some of the best-known opening partnerships in T20 World Cup history.
Brief scores:
UAE 173/6 in 20 overs (Muhammad Waseem 66 not out, Alishan Sharafu 55; Matt Henry 2-37, Mitchell Santner 1-23) lost to New Zealand 175 for no loss in 15.2 overs (Tim Seifert 89 not out, Finn Allen 84 not out) by 10 wickets