NZ break record to beat UAE

Chennai, Feb. 11: Finn Allen and Tim Seifert posted a T20 World Cup record partnership of 175 as New Zealand crushed the United Arab Emirates by 10 wickets with almost five overs to spare in Chennai on Tuesday.

Chasing the UAE's 173-6, Seifert struck an unbeaten 89 and Allen scored 84 not out as they pummelled the UAE bowling to all parts of the ground in an unbroken opening stand.

The opening pair crashed 78 from the first six-over power play and posted their century stand off only 8.3 overs.

Seifert hit one of his three huge sixes to clinch the contest after just 15.2 overs, he also struck 12 fours. Allen had five sixes and five fours.

They beat the previous record for any wicket at a T20 World Cup -- an unbroken 170 by England openers Alex Hales and Jos Buttler against India in the semi-final of the 2022 edition at the Adelaide Oval.

"The main thing is that we're playing how we want to play, especially me and Finn putting pressure on the bowlers in the power play," said Seifert, who was named player of the match.

"Every game's going to be a little bit different, every ground's going to be different. So in a World Cup, you've just got to be able to adapt to the conditions you’re playing in."

Seifert said he was unaware the pair had posted a new World Cup record partnership for any wicket. "No, I didn't know that," he said. "I'm not much of a stats guy, but look, we'll take it."

The UAE's 173-6 was largely thanks to their captain Muhammad Waseem's 66 not out.

Choosing to bat first, Waseem and Alishan Sharafu put on 107 for the second wicket. It took a sensational piece of New Zealand fielding to break the partnership.

Mark Chapman intercepted a Sharafu slog-sweep a whisker inside the boundary and before he stepped over the ropes relayed the ball to Daryl Mitchell to complete the dismissal.

The 31-year-old Waseem, who was one of only three current UAE players to play in their last appearance in a T20 World Cup in 2022, hit four fours and three sixes in facing 45 balls.

De Leede stars in Dutch win

Earlier at New Delhi, Bas de Leede’s all-round show earned the Netherlands a seven-wicket win over Namibia in Group A.

De Leede grabbed 2-20 as the Dutch used eight bowlers and Namibia scored 156-8. De Leede then smashed four sixes and five boundaries and guided his team to 159-3 in 18 overs with an unbeaten 72 off 48 balls.

They had pushed former champions Pakistan to the brink before losing in the final over in Colombo on Saturday.

"I think we were lucky to bowl first," player of the match de Leede said. "It gave us a good look at the wicket, and I thought we adjusted really well as a bowling group.

"Later in the game, I felt the pitch started skidding on a bit - so credit to the batters for adapting to that as well."

Captain Scott Edwards chose to field and rotated eight bowlers, but Namibia still mustered a competitive 156-8 after a stuttering start.

Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton (42) anchored, with Jan Frylinck (30) and JJ Smit (22) adding useful runs. Skipper Gerhard Erasmus (18) hit two fours and a six before falling as he looked to launch a counterattack.

Max O'Dowd fell cheaply after the Dutch side began their chase and Michael Levitt (28) could not convert his start either, but a let-off for Colin Ackermann proved costly for Namibia.

Ackermann went on to make 32 in his match-defining 70-run stand with de Leede to put the Netherlands on course to victory.

De Leede hit Loftie-Eaton for a six to bring his team near the target before sealing victory with a four.

Namibia will face a sterner test when they face defending champions India at the same venue on Thursday.

SA trounce Canada

South Africa inflicted a 57-run thrashing on Canada in Ahmedabad on Monday, as the 2024 runners-up opened their latest T20 World Cup campaign with a dominant performance with bat and ball.

After Canada won the toss and elected to field, South Africa smashed 47 off the last three overs to pile up 213-4, the highest total so far in this year's T20 World Cup.

David Miller hit an unbeaten 39 off 23 balls and Tristan Stubbs was not out 34 off 19 as they put on an unbroken stand of 75 in 6.1 overs at the end.

Canada's Navneet Dhaliwal was the only top- order batsman to offer any resistance, falling for 64 in the final over as Canada were restricted to 156-8 in reply.

Lungi Ngidi did the bulk of the damage for South Africa, taking 4-31 from his four overs as their pace attack had Canada reeling at 45-4 during the powerplay.

Ngidi was named player of the match and said the evening dew had helped his variation.

Zimbabwe also made a winning start by bowling out Oman for 103 and won by eight wickets with 6.3 overs to spare in Colombo.

Zimbabwe's pace attack blew away Oman. Blessing Muzarabani picked 3-16 in four overs, Richard Ngarava 3-17 and Brad Evans 3-18.

Oman was down to 27-5 in seven overs, crossed 100 in the final over, and was all out for 103 with a ball to spare. Vinay Shukla top-scored with 28 off 21 — just three batters reached double figures.

Zimbabwe chased down the win in a hurry. Brian Bennett wast 48 not out off 36 balls, including seven boundaries. Brendan Taylor scored 31 off 30 when he retired hurt, hobbling off with a suspected hamstring issue. (AFP)