Scotland’s Michael Leask’s late surge had New Zealand in a spot of bother while they were defending a target of 173 in Dubai but a good penultimate over from Tim Southee ensured that the Kiwis were in front.
Needing 39 off the last two, Southee gave 13 runs in the 19th over after he was hit for maximum on the final delivery but the required rate was still very high for Scotland as they needed 26 off 6 balls.
Later, Adam Milne who bowled the 20th over of the innings made sure that the Blackcaps end the match on the winning podium as he only gave 9 runs to clinch victory for his side. New Zealand won by 16 runs.
The Scotland side had a decent start to the chase after they put 66 in less than 8 overs at the cost of two wickets. But the New Zealand bowling unit made a solid comeback and scalped a few wickets at regular intervals to reduce them to 106/5 in the 16th over.
Leask though took the onus on himself and provided the side with some resistance but his efforts weren’t really enough to take Scotland over the line as they were restricted to 156/5 eventually.
For New Zealand, Trent Boult returned with figures of 2/29 in 4 overs while Tim Southee picked up one wicket for 24 runs in his allotted 4 overs. Apart from these two, spinner Ish Sodhi also bagged a couple but he had an expensive economy rate. Sodhi gave away 42 runs in his 4 overs.
Earlier, in the day, Scotland were off to a flying start with the ball after New Zealand lost the first three wickets for 52 runs with the likes of Kane Williamson and Devon Conway back in the hut. But what unleashed next was simply a masterclass from Martin Guptill who along with Glenn Phillips steadied the ship for the side and stitched a stand of 105 runs for the fourth wicket.
The two batters played in a cautious manner and then Guptill took on the bowlers after getting their eye in. Guptill struck a 56-ball 93 which included seven maximums and six fours while Phillips scored a 37-ball 33 to help New Zealand put 172/5 in 20 overs on the board.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson lauded Guptill’s knock.
“We certainly knew coming into this tournament that there were match winners all around. It ebbed and flowed and we got a good first innings total. We were patchy with the ball but we need to move on. Credit to Scotland for the way they played and hit the ball out of the park.We were tested and we need to learn from this. Guptill is a power player. He is hitting the ball beautifully,” he said in the post-match presentation.
New Zealand will now play Namibia in Sharjah while Scotland will be up against India in Abu Dhabi on Friday.