(AFP Photo)
New Zealand clinched their maiden victory in the ICC T20 World Cup with a dominant performance against Uganda in their Group C clash at Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday, powered by impressive bowling spells from pace bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
After his team’s comprehensive nine-wicket triumph over Uganda, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson emphasized the value of more teams gaining exposure at the highest level of the tournament.
“Our guys were good. It was a tough surface. Obviously, there was plenty there in the surface, which made life pretty difficult. It was nice to do that job in the first half. The teams have been getting more exposure at the highest level, which helps to develop as a team. Having that exposure is always a great experience to learn from. We need to train again and play again. The same discussions are going on again, to recover tomorrow and then train and play again, being respectful of the conditions and the surface, and playing as well as you can.”
New Zealand secured a crucial victory, placing them third in the standings with one win and two losses, totaling two points. Their chances for advancing to the Super Eights stage are now ruled out, as West Indies and Afghanistan have already secured qualification. Meanwhile, Uganda holds the fourth position with one win and three losses, also accumulating two points.
During the match, New Zealand won the toss and opted to field first. Uganda faced early setbacks in their innings, losing Simon Ssesazi and Simon Ssesazi to Trent Boult in the opening over, both dismissed without scoring. Tim Southee further added to Uganda’s woes by dismissing Alpesh Ramjani for a duck, leaving Uganda reeling at 2/3 after just 3.4 overs. By the end of the powerplay, Uganda’s score stood at 9/3 after six overs.
Uganda struggled against the high-quality pace bowling of Boult and Southee, resulting in them being 21/5 by the halfway mark of their innings, which was after 10 overs. The spinners, Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra, also made significant contributions to the New Zealand effort. Apart from Kenneth Waiswa, who managed to reach double digits, no other Ugandan batsman could contribute much, and they were bowled out for 40 runs in 18.4 overs.
In response, New Zealand encountered an early setback when their young opener Finn Allen was dismissed by Riazat Ali Shah after scoring just nine runs off 17 balls. However, Devon Conway exhibited glimpses of his batting prowess and, along with Ravindra, efficiently chased down the remaining runs with 88 balls to spare.
