Match overview
New Zealand beat UAE by 10 wickets in Chennai on 10 February 2026, chasing 174 without losing a wicket. UAE posted a reasonable 173/6 after winning the toss and choosing to bat, with their innings progressing steadily through the powerplay and middle overs before the death phase cost them four wickets. New Zealand's response was exceptional by any measure: 78 runs in the powerplay without being dismissed, and a near-flawless middle-overs period of 90 runs that left only a handful to knock off at the death. TL Seifert was named player of the match. It is New Zealand's third win in four T20I meetings with UAE.
UAE's 173/6 was not an embarrassing total. Scoring 50 in the powerplay and 72 across the middle overs suggested a disciplined, accumulation-first approach. Losing four wickets in the death overs, however, prevented them from setting a score that would have genuinely tested New Zealand's batting depth. At a venue where the average first-innings score is 192, UAE came in around 19 runs short of par.
New Zealand simply did not allow the match to develop into a contest. Once their openers cleared the powerplay at 78/0, the chase was effectively settled. The entire innings finished at 175/0: no wickets, no drama, and very little that UAE's bowlers could point to as a moment they were close to a breakthrough.
Venue and conditions
M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai is one of Indian cricket's most storied venues, and its numbers over 127 T20 matches tell a nuanced story. The average first-innings score here is 192, with second-innings teams averaging 177. Chasing sides win 46% of the time, which makes the ground broadly batter-friendly in both innings but marginally favouring teams that bat first.
Powerplay scoring at Chepauk averages 43 runs per innings. New Zealand's 78-run, wicket-free powerplay was therefore a dramatic outlier, nearly double the venue norm. Death-overs average 38 runs here; UAE's 51 in the back end was above par, though the four wickets lost hurt their final total significantly.
The pitch in Chennai traditionally rewards spin over time, as the extensive Test record of bowlers like R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja at this ground confirms. In T20 cricket, those conditions compress into a shorter window, but the surface's characteristic slow, low nature can still make scoring difficult once the ball grips. On this occasion, the pitch appeared to play without significant deviation. New Zealand's openers never looked troubled by it.
How to watch
T20 international cricket involving New Zealand is typically broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports Cricket. Live streaming is available through Sky Go for existing subscribers and via NOW TV for those without a full Sky package. For fixtures in India, broadcast windows generally run from mid-afternoon to evening UK time, depending on the local start time.
For ICC tournaments and bilateral series, BBC Radio's Test Match Special also provides audio commentary on selected international fixtures. Checking the Sky Sports schedule ahead of each match remains the most reliable way to confirm UK broadcast arrangements.
Recent form
New Zealand came into this fixture having struggled in their recent series against India, losing four of their five most recent matches. Their one win in that run demonstrated they remained capable of beating top opposition, but the India series had clearly been a challenging assignment.
UAE's form was considerably weaker. Ahead of the Chennai T20I, they had lost four of their previous five matches, including back-to-back defeats to Ireland in 2026 and three losses in 2025 to Oman and the USA. Their only recent win came against Nepal. That run of results pointed to a side still developing at this level, and the 10-wicket defeat in Chennai was consistent with the gap in quality that their recent record suggested.
