Southee five-for, Seifert 55 put New Zealand 1-0 up

Tim Seifert's explosive fifty and Tim Southee's crafty five-wicket haul helped New Zealand scrap to victory in the T20I series opener against UAE in Dubai. Cameos from Rachin Ravindra and Cole McConchie were also vital to New Zealand's win on a tricky, two-paced track.

Returning to the scene of the T20 World Cup final in 2021, when Seifert filled in for the injured Devon Conway, Seifert staked his claim for regular selection with a 30-ball half-century. UAE's offspin-bowling allrounders Basil Hameed and Mohammed Faraazuddin then triggered a middle-overs meltdown, but late blows from Ravindra and McConchie hauled New Zealand past 150.

Eighteen-year-old Aryansh Sharma marked his T20I debut with a sparkling half-century and kept UAE in the hunt until Jimmy Neesham had him holing out in the 15th over. His dismissal left UAE needing 41 off 30 balls with four wickets in hand. But Southee and co put it beyond their reach and bowled them out for 136.

Seifert's ability to club the ball had earned him a nickname - Bam Bam - inspired, of all things, The Flintstones. Seifert has drifted away from New Zealand's first-choice XI in the recent past, but he has now put himself back in the spotlight with runs around the world.

Last month, he finished the Zim Afro T10 league as the tournament's second-highest scorer. He then hit three fifties in the LPL and added another to his CV in Dubai on Thursday. He was responsible for 47 of the 51 runs New Zealand had scored in the powerplay on a challenging pitch.

He pumped Junaid Siddique and Aayan Khan over mid-off and then whipped Ali Naseer over square leg. UAE's bowlers kept bowling slower balls into the pitch, but Seifert kept manufacturing enough pace for himself. Hameed cut his innings short at 55 when he had him splicing a reverse-sweep to point. He then cleaned up Mitchell Santner in the same over to drag UAE back into the game.

After the powerplay, New Zealand went seven overs without a boundary. Neesham then struck back-to-back fours against Hameed and when he went for another one against Siddique, he was caught at deep square leg.

McConchie and Ravindra then forged an unbroken 46-run seven-wicket partnership off just 28 balls to give the innings a leg-up. Ravindra lined up Zahoor, taking him for 11 off six balls, including a drilled four down the ground. Hitting across the line was particularly difficult on this track, so the pair focussed on finding boundaries in the 'V'.

That UAE made a decent fist of the chase was down to Aryansh's knock. He scored ten boundaries during his 60 off 43 balls. Overall, New Zealand had scored only ten boundaries during their entire innings, but they still found a way to win.

Until recently Aryansh was only Vriitya Aravind's understudy, but in the first T20I against New Zealand, he was their main man, punching and driving with panache. He smashed left-arm quick Ben Lister for three successive fours before treating Kyle Jamieson in similar fashion. Neesham then snagged him to wrestle back the momentum for New Zealand.

Santner had given up ten runs in his first over in the powerplay, but he bounced back to concede only 12 from his remaining three while also picking up the wickets of Asif Khan and Ali Naseer.

When Asif lobbed one in the air, it seemed destined to fall safely until Santner threw himself to his right and pulled off a stunning one-handed catch, in front of the non-striker. Then, in the 17th over, he trapped Naseer in front to hasten New Zealand's victory.

After making early inroads with the new ball, Southee was just as effective with the old, regularly digging cutters into the pitch. He took care of the UAE lower order along with Santner and Jamieson. Southee is now just two wickets away from surpassing Shakib Al Hasan as the highest wicket-taker in T20Is.