New Zealand eye UAE scalp with Afghanistan watching

The margins are very tight in a World Cup 'Group of Death'. For Afghanistan to repeat their 2024 heroics in 2026, it was vital to cross their first hurdle. A match-up against New Zealand in Chennai – a side they beat last edition – was preferable to facing South Africa in Ahmedabad. Having slipped, Afghanistan now hopes an Associate team can do what they couldn't: topple New Zealand.

This is even more significant after South Africa's imposing tournament start. If New Zealand win on Tuesday and go two in two, Afghanistan will be under pressure to beat South Africa – a team that mauled them in the 2024 semifinal.

While UAE beating New Zealand remains unlikely, it cannot be ruled out. The difference between a Pakistan win and an upset on opening day was one dropped catch. USA had India on the mat at 77/6, Nepal almost pulled off a blinder against England before falling four runs short. These Associates stretched their fancied opponents. UAE themselves beat New Zealand in a T20I two and a half years ago. Some current New Zealand players featured in that match.

UAE also pushed Afghanistan and Pakistan in a tri-series last August. They must draw inspiration from those performances, as batting remains their biggest weakness. They struggled against Ireland recently and were bowled out for 81 by World Cup debutants Italy in a warm-up. If Chepauk offers a batting beauty, UAE's chances diminish further.

New Zealand have been toughened by a recent series against India. Even losing early wickets against Afghanistan didn't set them back, chasing 183 with 13 balls to spare. They will fancy consolidating their grip on the group.

When: Tuesday, February 10, 2026, 3 PM local | 9:30 AM GMT

Where: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

What to expect: New Zealand's batting coach confirmed a fresh red soil surface will be used – not good news for UAE.

Most New Zealand players opted not to train after playing 24 hours prior. Finn Allen and Rachin Ravindra, who departed early against Afghanistan, had a long net session. Ish Sodhi at times bowled off-spin to the left-hander. New Zealand are set to retain the same XI.

New Zealand Probable XI: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), James Neesham, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy

On the match eve, the Emirates Cricket Board confirmed Muhammad Zohaib has been sent home for disciplinary reasons.

UAE Probable XI: Muhammad Waseem (c), Aryansh Sharma (wk), Alishan Sharafu, Sohaib Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Mayank Kumar, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Arfan, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah

UAE clinched the final spot at the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, becoming the 20th and last team to qualify after an eight-wicket win over Japan in the Asia & East Asia-Pacific Qualifier.

UAE has 11 wins against full-member sides in T20Is – the most by an Associate nation alongside Namibia.

Luke Ronchi, New Zealand batting coach, on Associate nations pushing top teams early: "Those games are, I guess you can have a sort of a lackadaisical mindset going into those sorts of games, but you need to understand it is a World Cup. You do have your own styles of playing your cricket and I guess standards you want to set. So it's making sure we do that and that is in the field, it's with the bat, it's with the ball, it's knowing that the way we want to present ourselves, the presence we want to have out on the pitch, it doesn't matter who it's against."

Muhammad Waseem, UAE captain: "From the warm-up games, we learned so many things, especially in the batting and the fielding, you know, it's a little bit bigger ground. So in the fielding side, we learned so many things, how we can cut the doubles into the singles. And as a batting team, I think we have to bat a little bit long for the last four or five overs."