The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will take on Netherlands in the second match of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Geelong on Sunday, October 16.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be up against Netherlands in the second Group A match at Geelong’s Simonds Stadium on the opening day of the T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday. With Sri Lanka being the superior side of the four teams in the group, UAE and Netherlands, alongside Namibia, are in for a tough race for a top-two finish.
Netherlands are confident ahead of the competition with their preparations, further bolstered by the presence of World Cup winning coach Gary Kirsten in their coaching staff.
“I feel like our preparation this year is much better than last year,” Netherlands batter Colin Ackermann said. “And with Gary, he brings with him a wealth of experience, having coached some of the best teams in the world. He has also coached here in Australia with Hobart Hurricanes, so he brings a bit of experience of different grounds.”
UAE too, having booked a spot in the tournament after winning the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier A, feel that they are in a good stead participating in the marquee event for just the second time.
“With the wickets here, we know what to expect. There’s a bit more bounce in the tracks compared to back home,” UAE opener Chirag Suri said. “And the dimensions of the grounds are different. We are in sync with the conditions.”
Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Aryan Lakra, Vriitya Aravind (wk), CP Rizwan (c), Basil Hameed, Zawar Farid, Junaid Siddique, Aayan Khan, Karthik Meiyappan, Zahoor Khan
Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Bas de Leede, Tom Cooper, Scott Edwards (c) (wk), Teja Nidamanuru, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Shariz Ahmad, Colin Ackermann, Fred Klaassen
The weather is expected to be cold through the day, with slight chances of rain later in the evening.
Toss is unlikely to play a decisive factor in case of a full 20-overs a side contest. However, the chasing side could benefit in case of rain, as forecasted in the second half of the day.
Zahoor Khan, the right-arm quick, is UAE’s strike bowler, having bagged 59 T20I wickets at 23.76 at an excellent economy of 5.21.
Max O’Dowd, Netherlands’ leading run-scorer in T20Is (1347 at 29.28) and the only centurion in the format from his country, will lead the side’s batting at the T20 World Cup.
Tom Cooper is known for his big-hitting capabilities in the middle and death overs, and the experience of playing in Australia during the BBL make him a reliable game-changer in the Netherlands line-up.
UAE are currently ranked 13th in the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings, and given the superiority, with Netherlands placed 18th currently, the CP Rizwan led side seem to begin as firm favourites. The road to the T20 World Cup 2022 too, paints a similar picture: UAE qualified for the competition after having won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier A, while the Netherlands finished runners-up at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier B, losing to Zimbabwe in the final.
The conditions in Australia however, suit the Dutch side more and they are further benefited by the experience of Roelof van der Merwe and Tom Cooper, the latter being familiar to the conditions Down Under thanks to the stints at the BBL. And so, it won’t come as a major surprise if the Netherlands, who were clean-swept 0-2 in their last T20I assignment – against New Zealand at home in August – get off to a winning start in the competition.
This day in 2009, Netherlands pulled off a thrilling last-ball win over England in the opening clash of @T20WorldCup 🙌
Relive the highlights of the gripping encounter 📽️ pic.twitter.com/5msbY66fqT
— ICC (@ICC) June 5, 2021
Netherlands come in with a major reputation among Associate Member teams at the T20 World Cup, having defeated England twice across their four editions of participation. They suffered defeats in each of their three Round 1 games at the T20 World Cup last year, and would be keen to improve significantly on that.
UAE, on the other hand, would be quietly confident, after having given a tough fight to Bangladesh in a two-match series at home earlier this month.
The UAE vs Netherlands T20 World Cup 2022 match live on the Star Sports network in India. The match will be live streamed on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website.
