Trent Boult delivered searing, full inswing, Tim Southee went at the stumps as well, before Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra tested both edges of the bat with their left-arm spin.
The result was another Uganda collapse at the T20 World Cup, their inexperienced batters simply unable to contend with the quality of New Zealand’s bowling.
Uganda were all out for 40 in the 19th over, with only one of their batters – Kenneth Waiswa – having made double figures. They struck three boundaries all through their innings, and were unable to find scoring options, the New Zealand bowlers frequently beating their bat.
New Zealand ran down the target in 5.2 overs, with the loss of just one wicket. Even top batters from more established teams would have been tested by Boult’s first over. He began with a couple of inswinging yorkers to Ronak Patel, who managed to to get off strike second ball.
Boult’s next two deliveries were big-swinging, and pinpoint. First he had left-hander Simon Ssesazi plumb in front, before cleaning up Robinson Obuya with a delivery that curved in through the gate.
After Boult delivered that double-wicket over, conceding just one run, Southee bowled a maiden, then Boult delivered another maiden – Uganda’s top order often unable to make contact.
The pair bowled right through the powerplay, and left Uganda 9 for 3, with Southee having trapped Alpesh Ramjani in front in his second over.
Then it was over to Santner, Lockie Ferguson, and Ravindra. Santer struck first, drawing the outside edge of Ronak, held nicely by wicketkeeper Devon Conway.
Ferguson then took out Waiswa’s stumps. Even Riazat Ali Shah, and Dinesh Nakrani looked incapable of scoring against New Zealand, and by the end of the 14th over, Uganda were seven down for 27.
Their only minor consolation was getting past the 39 – their lowest T20 total ever – they had slumped to against West Indies.
The chase was largely smooth, and the only wicket Uganda got had a touch of good fortune about it – Riazat getting Finn Allen caught down the legside with a full delivery.
New Zealand had trouble hitting boundaries too, finding the rope only twice in the first four overs. But with such a small target, singles and twos would work too. Conway finished the game with back-to-back boundaries off Jumo Miyagi.—Agencies
