New Zealand win by 16 runs
New Zealand have gained two valuable points on the table with a solid win over Scotland, who applied themselves better than they have so far in the Super 12s. The result means New Zealand join Afghanistan on four points in Group 2, which will set up an intriguing clash between the two teams on Sunday. Before that, Afghanistan have to play India, the result of which could also be crucial in determining who progresses to the semi-final.
On a fresh pitch in Dubai, described by the television commentators as the best for run-scoring in the tournament so far, New Zealand posted 172 for 5, thanks largely to a 105-run fourth-wicket stand between Martin Guptill and Glenn Phillips. Guptill went on to score a 50-ball 93.
Scotland's chase was steady, and even threatening in parts. They reached their 50 in 6.2 overs and needed 97 runs off the last 10. Mitchell Santner and Tim Southee were miserly but Scotland stayed in the hunt until close to the end. An unbeaten 50-run stand between Michael Leask and Chris Greaves kept them in with a chance until the last over but New Zealand's experience held out.
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What's the impact on the points table?
It's looking all over bar the shouting for New Zealand, so let's take a look at what this will mean for the points table. With victory, New Zealand join Afghanistan on four points. That means Afghanistan need to break away by beating either India or New Zealand and they have their first opportunity to do that in about half-an-hour's time when they play India. If Afghanistan lose both those matches and New Zealand beat Namibia, New Zealand will go through to the semi-finals. As for India, they need to beat Afghanistan by a big margin and hope Afghanistan beat New Zealand. So all in all this could be a very important result for New Zealand in the bigger scheme of things.
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Boult climbing on the wicket-taker's tally
Trent Boult and Ish Sodhi are New Zealand's most successful bowlers of the tournament so far, with six wickets each. They are level with several other players including Moeen Ali, Tabraiz Shamsi and Scotland's Mark Watt.
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Southee and Santner with the squeeze
Scotland's required run-rate has gone from 9.69 at the halfway stage to 11.62 after 12 overs as Tim Southee and Mitchell Santner gave away just four runs from the last two overs.
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You can see Scotland's run-rate dipping here:
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Scotland need 97 from 10
It's not impossible at all for Scotland, and they find themselves well set on 76 for 2 after the first 10 overs. Their score was pushed along by the 20 runs that came off the last over of the Powerplay and happily for them, Matthew Cross, who hit those runs, is still there. New Zealand's spinners, Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner have four overs left between them, and Santner, in particular, has given little away. That means Scotland may have to take on the quicks so we could be set for an intriguing finish.
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And after the maiden over came this
Adam Milne's maiden over - the 13th in the tournament - was followed by this:
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Matthew Cross pulled the first two balls for four, then picked the slower ball to drive it through covers, then top-edged over the wicket-keepers head and then went aerial through point. He missed out on a sixth four in the over, when he tried to launch a back of a length ball through mid-wicket but didn't get hold of it.
It's only the second time we've seen five fours in an over in the men's T20I World Cup after Jacques Kallis' against Scotland's Jan Stander, in 2009.
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Lucky No.13
Scotland came close but it was New Zealand who bowled a runless over in this match. Adam Milne delivered the fourth over, all six balls back of a length and speedy. He reached up to 147kph and beat Matthew Cross three times in the over. And this from our stats whizz Sampath Bandarupalli:
That was Milne's second maiden in T20Is. His first was vs Pakistan in 2016. Between these two NZ have had just 1 maiden in men's T20is - by Santner vs SL in 2019.
13 Maiden overs at this tournament
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Unsteady Scottish Openers
Scotland haven't got off to the best of starts in this tournament, with their top two sharing in only two stands over 25 runs. Only one of those, their 28 against Afghanistan, in the Super 12s.
33 Scotland's best opening stand at this tournament, scored against Oman
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NZ set Scotland 173 to win
New Zealand will be pretty happy with that. Scotland had New Zealand on the ropes at one point, on 52 for 3, but Martin Guptill's 93 anchored and accelerated their innings, and his 105-run stand with Glenn Phillips could prove match-winning. Mark Watt continued his impressive run with a return of 1 for 13.
Scotland have successfully chased more than this, but only once, when they scored 181 to beat Ireland in 2019. They would have to pull off their second highest successful chase, against a very different quality of opposition to pull off an upset.
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Guptill's golden knock
Martin Guptill has celebrated several milestones in this innings already: second batter to 3,000 T20I runs, and first to 150 T20I sixes but fell seven short of a third T20I century.
Take a look at his Wagon Wheel here, where you can see the massive proportion of runs on the leg side, compared to the offside. All Guptill's sixes came on the leg side.
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Guptill's second T20 WC fifty
Martin Guptill has brought up his second half-century at a T20 World Cup, after his 80 against Pakistan in Mohali in 2016. His milestone came with massive it of Chris Greaves, a slog-sweep that found the top tier of the stands in Dubai. Guptill has now hit 150 sixes in T20I, the first batter to clobber that many.
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Listen to this...
Chris Greaves was one of the architects of New Zealand's go-slow and he had some encouragement from Matthew Cross behind the stumps, who had this to say:
"Come on Greavo. You've got all of India behind you."
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Strangle post the Powerplay
Scotland have squeezed New Zealand with spin in the four overs since the Powerplay, as Mark Watt and Chris Greaves put the brakes on.New Zealand have only scored one boundary in the last 24 balls and 18 runs between overs 6 and 10.
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Conway's lowest
Scotland struck immediately after the fielding restrictions were lifted with the introduction of spin. Mark Watt dismissed Devon Conway for the lowest score of his short, but impressive T20I careers, with a full delivery that Conway tried to reverse sweep but gloved to Cross. It continues an magical run for Watt, who has taken at least one wicket in all the nine matches he has played at men's T20 World Cup. He has conceded less than 24 runs in all but his debut game where he went for 30 runs.
1 Devon Conway's lowest T20 score in 14 innings
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Guptill brings up 3,000; NZ 52/2 in the PP
New Zealand became the seventh team to score more than 50 runs in the Powerplay, and the only one to have lost more than one wicket in that time. Their total has been propelled by Martin Guptill, who brought up New Zealand's 50 and 3,000 runs in T20I cricket with a six over backward square leg.
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Sharif strikes twice
Safyaan Sharif has put Scotland in a fantastic position with an over to go in the Powerplay. His double strike started with Daryl Mitchell given out lbw off the first ball. Mitchell reviewed, but the ball was clipping the bail. Then, four balls later Kane Williamson nicked off down the leg side and walked, leaving Sharif on the brink of bowling Scotland's first maiden over of the tournament. He spoilt it with a wide, but that was the only run off his second over, leaving him with figures of 2 for 2.
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Martin Guptill has had an inconsistent time at T20 World Cups, where he averages 22.95, significantly lower than his overall T20I average of 32.13. He had particularly lean patches at the 2012 and 2014 editions, where he only made one score over 30 across both events. He may be eyeing this fixture as an opportunity to up his stats.
20 Martin Guptill's highest score in the tournament before this match.
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Expensive Start
Not exactly the start Scotland would have wanted. Brad Wheal bowled two good nuts upfront but then gifted Martin Guptill a boundary and gave away five wides. This is Scotland's most expensive opening over in the tournament so far.
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Scotland will field first
Scotland have decided to chase on a fresh pitch in Dubai. You may think it's a brave decision, considering they were bowled out for 60 by Afghanistan in their last match. They're without Josh Davey, who has a niggle, and have brought Alasdair Evans in to bat. Kyle Coetzer is back as captain so Craig Wallace sits out. New Zealand are unchanged.
Scotland: 1 Kyle Coetzer (capt), 2 George Munsey, 3 Calum MacLeod, 4 Richie Berrington, 5 Matt Cross, 6 Michael Leask, 7 Chris Greaves, 8 Mark Watt, 9 Alasdair Evans, 10 Safyaan Sharif, 11 Brad Wheal
New Zealand: 1 Daryl Mitchell, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Devon Conway (wk), 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 Jimmy Neesham, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Adam Milne, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Ish Sodhi
And here's our man on the ground, Matt Roller's, look at the pitch.
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Here we go!
Hello and welcome to our coverage of this 32nd match of the T20 World Cup.
It's a rare clash between New Zealand and Scotland, who last played each other in a T20I in 2009. Remember that year? Maybe you do but I am pretty sure you won't remember this match. Here's a little recap.
So how do things stack up here? Scotland have their toughest three challenges coming up, with matches against New Zealand, India and Pakistan and will be disappointed not have beaten one of Namibia or Afghanistan. New Zealand, on the other hand, are pushing for a semi-final spot. Their victory over India has helped them gain important points and they have this match, Namibia and Afghanistan to come. You'd fancy their chances of winning all three, which should take them into the last four but Afghanistan and India are hot on their heels. They play the late game today so New Zealand have a good opportunity to set the tone early.
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