Southee happy with ‘tough challenge’ in UAE

Agency :
New Zealand captain Tim Southee is happy with the tough challenge his team faced in the United Arab Emirates before eking out a 2-1 series victory on Sunday.

The tourists, missing several frontline players, escaped to victory in the opener but were stunned in the second T20 match with UAE registering their first win against New Zealand in any format.

New Zealand put up an improved display in Sunday’s decider when Will Young smashed 56 in his first match of the series and Mark Chapman made 51 to help them post 166-5.

The hosts managed 134-7, with Ben Lister claiming 3-35 for New Zealand in what Southee called their “best performance of the series”.

“We expected a tough challenge in these conditions,” Southee said referring to the heat after they prevailed by 32 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.