New Zealand vs United Arab Emirates, 11th Match, Group D, ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 - Commentary

United Arab Emirates opt to bat

UAE

119

-1

(14.1)

CRR8.4

P'SHIP107(76)

51%

UAE

49%

Batter

Alishan Sharafu *

119.57

Muhammad Waseem

139.39

Bowler

ECO

Mitchell Santner *

3.1

6.30

14.1

Mitchell Santner to Alishan Sharafu, no run, loopy delivery outside off, spinning away from the batter, Alishan Sharafu goes for a reverse sweep and misses. The keeper was quick to dislodge the bails

Mitchell Santner [3.0-0-20-0] is back into the attack

Drinks are on the field now. The Afghanistan batters had a great outing against the Kiwi bowlers in the previous game. Today, the UAE batters are having a great time out in the middle. If UAE continue going along at the same rate, they might be able to post a total in excess of 180. Can the NZ bowlers manage to break this partnership before it gets too late? We'll soon find out..

0 1 0 1 1 4 (7 runs)

UAE 119-1

Muhammad Waseem

46(33)

Alishan Sharafu

55(45)

Rachin Ravindra

3-0-19-0

13.6

Rachin Ravindra to Muhammad Waseem, FOUR, this has been a superb partnership between the two UAE batters. Muhammad Waseem shuffles across, goes down on his knee and swipes it away to the deep backward square leg boundary

13.5

Rachin Ravindra to Alishan Sharafu, 1 run, misfield. A rare misfield by Santner. This was slapped towards cover by Alishan Sharafu and the fielder fumbles, resulting in a single

13.4

Rachin Ravindra to Muhammad Waseem, 1 run, quicker through the air, Muhammad Waseem works it through the on-side for one

13.3

Rachin Ravindra to Muhammad Waseem, no run, fraction short, Muhammad Waseem makes room and his cuts finds the fielder at point

13.2

Rachin Ravindra to Alishan Sharafu, 1 run, advances down the wicket and slaps this shortish delivery towards long-off for one

13.1

Rachin Ravindra to Alishan Sharafu, no run, tad short on leg, Alishan Sharafu makes room and carves it towards point

Rachin Ravindra [2.0-0-12-0] is back into the attack

The attendance is over 16000 today.

Over highlights (7-13) | 62 runs, 0 wickets
- UAE continue to find boundaries regularly after the powerplay.
- Ravindra bowls a quiet over.
- Another non-boundary over, thanks to superb fielding.
- Sharafu uses Lockie's pace to his advantage - 4 & 6.
- 39-ball fifty for Sharafu
- 15 + 13 = 18 runs off the last 2 overs.
- Century partnership between Waseem and Sharafu.

6 0 1 4 1 1 (13 runs)

UAE 112-1

Alishan Sharafu

53(42)

Muhammad Waseem

41(30)

Matt Henry

3-0-28-0

12.6

Matt Henry to Alishan Sharafu, 1 run, 117.8ks on a length and outside off, Sharafu drives behind square and Neesham tidies up. 100 stand up between the duo..

12.5

Matt Henry to Muhammad Waseem, 1 run, to deep mid-wicket

12.4

Matt Henry to Muhammad Waseem, FOUR, boundaries flowing now.. Poor delivery - short and bowled into the pitch, it was pace off but the length was too short, Waseem hops and upper cuts it over short third. He just had to clear the infield and he did that with ease

12.3

Matt Henry to Alishan Sharafu, 1 run, fuller and outside off, Sharafu drives square of the wicket and settles with a single

12.2

Matt Henry to Alishan Sharafu, no run, charges down and has to reach for the slower ball, chops it back to Henry

12.1

Matt Henry to Alishan Sharafu, SIX, fifty for Sharafu. He brings up in style. The entire UAE team are on their feet applauding. What a knock! Just a gentle raise of the bat to acknowledge the applause. Slower ball outside off, Sharafu shuffles across and sits down, mows the slog sweep towards cow corner and gets enough to clear the rope

Matt Henry [2.0-0-15-0] is back into the attack

1 1 4 6 1 2 (15 runs)

UAE 99-1

Muhammad Waseem

36(28)

Alishan Sharafu

45(38)

Lockie Ferguson

2-0-23-0

11.6

Lockie Ferguson to Muhammad Waseem, 2 runs, angling down leg, Waseem clips it past a diving short fine and Neesham gets around in the deep, couple more