Southee and James Neesham combined have played more T20 internationals than the entire UAE starting XI and the cooler heads showed in the 35 degree heat.
In front of a sparse crowd at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, New Zealand made 155 for six in a mixed innings that didn’t get off to the best start. Opener Chad Bowes was dismissed first ball of the series when he edged the opening delivery from Junaid Siddique.
Fellow opener Tim Seifert top scored for the Black Caps reaching his eighth T20 fifty, making 55 from 34 balls, but the rest of the top order failed to achieve one boundary between them as New Zealand slipped to 85 for five in the 13th over.
They needed some late hitting from James Neesham (25 from 22), Cole McConchie (31 from 24) and Rachin Ravindra (21 from 11) to get beyond 150.
Chasing 157 for victory, the UAE also lost a wicket first ball with Southee trapping Muhammad Waseem LBW. Wicketkeeper Sharma gave the UAE hope of a rare win over the T20 World Cup semifinalists but when Neesham removed him the chase fell apart.
The experience of Neesham (2-15) and Mitchell Santner (2-22) showed while Kyle Jamieson (1-20 from 2.4 overs) took the final wicket in his return to international cricket.
Southee’s five wicket bag was his first since 2010 while UAE were the 14th different T20 opponent he has faced in his career.
“It was a good game of cricket. We came to expect that. They are a growing side and they showed it tonight.” Southee said.
“Number of guys have been playing cricket in different parts of the world. We had a couple of days of training and we had to adapt. When you travel, you get used to different conditions. They (UAE) are a quality side, they are improving. Youngsters playing with that sort of freedom - it is exciting.”
The second match takes place 2am Sunday.
