One misstep against Afghanistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup derailed New Zealand’s  entire campaign. Two years later, New Zealand flipped the script despite injuries and illness, their opening win against Afghanistan in the group of death, which also includes South Africa, raising their chances of making the next round. Next up, an unfamiliar opponent: just six players in New Zealand’s 15-man squad have faced UAE in international cricket before.

New Zealand can rely on intel from Mark Chapman, who had come up against UAE more often when he was playing for Hong Kong, and Lockie Ferguson, who is more familiar with the UAE players owing to his stint in the ILT20 as Desert Vipers’ captain. They certainly won’t take UAE lightly – in 2023, a New Zealand side that included the likes of Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert and Chapman was toppled by UAE in Dubai.

For UAE, this is a chance  for them to remind the world that they can challenge top teams after they had missed out on qualification for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

UAE have won just one of their six games at the T20 World Cup, but thanks to the ILT20, most of their players are up to speed with the format. Their captain Muhammad Waseem is a serial six-hitter while Alishan Sharafu can be just as explosive and float in the batting line-up. Left-arm spinner Haider Ali can stifle batters with his accuracy in the powerplay while fast bowler Junaid Siddique can nail yorkers.

UAE beat Bangladesh recently in a bilateral T20I series and gave Pakistan a scare in the Asia Cup. They will be hoping to add more scalps in international cricket.

Rachin Ravindra  has had a rough build-up to this T20 World Cup. After illness forced him out of the warm-up game against USA in Navi Mumbai, he bagged a golden duck in New Zealand’s opening game against Afghanistan and conceded 14 runs in the only over he bowled, though he picked up the wicket of a well-set Gulbadin Naib. He will look to make a more substantial contribution on Tuesday.

This match is big for the teams involved. Netherlands vs Namibia  in Delhi won’t draw as many eyeballs as when subcontinental giants clash, but for the team that loses on Tuesday, it is the beginning of their end at the 2026 T20 World Cup. They have been placed in Group A alongside USA, India, and Pakistan. Only the top two make the Super Eights, and a loss will put either team on the brink of elimination.

Such a fate might seem particularly cruel for Namibia, who are the only team in the group to have not played a match yet. But like most Associate nations, they are used to jeopardy when they take the field – and they tackle it better than most of their peers. Their consistency has vaulted them to their fourth consecutive World Cup appearance after a competitive Africa qualifiers tournament. This match will also be their first T20I since October 2025; that last one was a final-over thriller they won in their first ever clash against South Africa.

Netherlands will be rueing a topsey-turvy contest against Pakistan  on Saturday that they were losing, then surely winning, and then losing again. Paul Van Meekeren did not mince his words in the aftermath of the contest: “I want to be very clear: Pakistan didn’t win the game today,  we lost the game against ourselves.”

Netherlands could have been on two points after causing an opening-day upset, but instead they enter this game knowing they cannot afford to let another winning situation slip past them.

The ten-day standoff over Pakistan’s   refusal to play India  in their scheduled 2026 T20 World Cup group fixture ended in an evening of frenzied press statements and near simultaneous announcements from the Pakistan government and the ICC that the match, billed to be the commercial centrepiece of the tournament, will go ahead on February 15 in Colombo.

The statement from the Pakistan government confirmed that a number of ICC members, including Sri Lanka and the UAE, had urged the PCB not to boycott their fixture, citing financial impact on other nations. It also confirmed that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had spoken to Sri Lanka President Kumara Dissanayake on the issue.

“In view of the outcomes achieved in multilateral discussions, as well as the request of friendly countries, the Government of Pakistan hereby directs the Pakistan National Cricket Team to take the field on February 15, 2026, for its scheduled fixture in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Moreover, this decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the spirit of cricket, and to support the continuity of this global sport in all participating nations,” the government statement concluded