Tim Seifert and Finn Allen set a record for the highest partnership at the T20 World Cup as New Zealand stormed to a 10-wicket win over the United Arab Emirates.

Seifert smashed 89 not out from 42 balls in Chennai while Allen hit five sixes as he compiled an unbeaten 84 from 50 deliveries.

That meant New Zealand made it two wins from two at the tournament, having previously beaten Afghanistan in their first game.

The Black Caps passed their target of 174 with 28 balls to spare, with victory rarely looking in doubt after openers Seifert and Allen got them up to 78-0 in the powerplay.

New Zealand made light work of chasing down what had looked like a decent score for UAE, who made it to 173-6 from their 20 overs, helped by a superb second-wicket partnership of 107 between Alishan Sharafu (55) and captain Muhammad Waseem (66no).

The UAE were looking good at 119-1 after 14 overs, but losing wickets slowed them down towards the end of their innings, except for a massive 18th over when Waseem and Mayank Kumar (21) let loose as Glenn Phillips conceded 27.

A dominant display with the bat from Tim Seifert powered  pic.twitter.com/2hJH85zf3A

— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 10, 2026

Earlier on Tuesday, the Netherlands bounced back from their heart-breaking opening defeat to Pakistan by comfortably defeating Namibia. 

Bas de Leede took 2-20 with the ball and then scored an unbeaten 72 from just 48 deliveries with the bat as the Netherlands won by seven wickets, chasing down their victory target of 157 with two overs to spare.

Data Debrief: Buttler and Hales' record falls

The previous highest partnership at the men's T20 World Cup was also set by an opening pair, with England's Jos Buttler and Alex Hales combining for 170 in the 2022 semi-final against Australia in Adelaide.

Seifert, who is in fine form after also scoring 65 against Afghanistan, leads early tournament run-scoring charts with 154 to his name already across two games.

His 89 also means he now has the highest individual score of the World Cup so far, surpassing George Munsey and Suryakumar Yadav, who had both scored 84, which Allen also did in this match.

This is the fourth time in 10 T20 World Cup appearances that New Zealand have won their opening two games, having also done so in the 2010, 2016 and 2022 editions.