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New Zealand vs United Arab Emirates T20 Cricket World Cup Predictions - Seifert to power Kiwis to back-to-back wins

Simon Lewis

Editor

Last updated: 09 Feb 2026

Simon Lewis 09 Feb 2026

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Tim Seifert hit three sixes in his 42-ball 65 against Afghanistan.
Aryansh Sharma scored 54 off 40 balls against Ireland.
Can New Zealand beat the UAE to claim back-to-back wins to start their 2026 World Cup campaign?

Expired

Tim Seifert hits out against Afghanistan (Getty Images).

New Zealand vs United Arab Emirates Predictions

New Zealand scored an excellent win over an in-form Afghanistan side, so they should comfortably demolish a United Arab Emirates side that is short on runs.

New Zealand vs United Arab Emirates Predictions
Head-to-Head
New Zealand Form
United Arab Emirates Form
New Zealand vs United Arab Emirates Team News & Squads

New Zealand’s Tim Seifert has scored 62, 66 & 65 in his last 4 innings.
New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips has scored 48, 24, 40 & 42 in his last 5 innings.
United Arab Emirates’ Aryansh Sharma has scored 23, 54, 25 & 15 in his last 4 innings.
United Arab Emirates’ Alishan Sharafu hit three sixes in his 40-ball 50* against MI Emirates.

Head-to-Head

New Zealand have won two and lost one of their last three games against the UAE.

New Zealand Form

New Zealand came into the World Cup on the back of a 4-1 T20I series defeat against India, but produced a superb team performance to beat Afghanistan by five wickets with 13 balls to spare.

Lockie Ferguson (2/40) knocked over Afghanistan’s opening pair but went for 10 runs to the over. Mitchell Santner (0/23, econ 5.75) and Matt Henry (1/27, econ 6.75) were the most economical of the Kiwi bowlers.

Dangermen Finn Allen and Rachin Ravindra fell to consecutive balls as New Zealand slipped to 14/2. Tim Seifert (65 off 42) and Glenn Phillips (42 off 25) put New Zealand on course for the win with a 74-run stand for the third wicket. Mark Chapman (28 off 17), Daryl Mitchell (25* off 14) and Mitchell Santner (17* off 8) took them home with 13 balls to spare.

United Arab Emirates Form

United Arab Emirates came into the World Cup on the back of a 2-0 series defeat to Ireland, before losing to Nepal by seven wickets and to Italy by 112 runs.

The UAE top order has been short of runs in recent months. Aside from opener Aryanash Sharma, the only runs scored in their two warm-up matches have come from Muhammad Zohaib (16 and 19), Harshit Kaushik (35) and Muhammad Farooq (23).

Junaid Siddique bowled superbly against Italy to return figures of 4-0-32-3 (econ 8.00) and has taken 117 wickets in 86 T20Is. Simranjeet Singh (1/20, econ 5.00) was impressive against Italy, while Muhammad Rohid bowled tightly against Nepal (1/13, econ 4.33).

New Zealand vs United Arab Emirates Team News & Squads

Michael Bracewell is a doubt for the match due to a calf injury, so seam-bowling allrounder Jimmy Neesham is likely to retain his position in the side despite going for 11 runs an over against Afghanistan. Finn Allen’s shoulder niggle has improved so he should start although he is unlikely to field in the deep due to his discomfort in throwing in to the stumps.

The UAE are likely to play Alishan Sharafu in the middle order, so keeper/batter Aryansh Sharma is likely to pair up with Waseem at the top of the order. The selectors are expected to leave the decision to go with Haider Ali or Simranjeet Singh until shortly before the toss.

New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner was delighted with his team’s performance in their opening match against Afghanistan. “Afghanistan were a threat and it was a massive game. They challenged us a lot as we thought they would. It was sticky to start and you have to get a read on the grounds and conditions quickly. The powerplays are important and Mujeeb was a challenge. Most teams stack their batting, so having a batter at 8 is nice,” said Santner.

New Zealand (possible XI): Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (w), Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy.

UAE (possible XI): 1Aryansh Sharma (w), Muhammad Waseem (c), Muhammad Zohaib, Alishan Sharafu, Harshit Kaushik, Mayank Kumar, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Arfan, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah.

Verdict

New Zealand v UAE T20 World Cup

I am backing New Zealand to win. I am also backing Tim Seifert to top score for New Zealand.

Aryansh Sharma is a good bet to top score for United Arab Emirates.

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