CHENNAI: When Afghanistan's Mujeeb Ur Rahman bowled a vicious googly to Glenn Phillips under the sweltering heat at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday, it hit his bat first before ballooning to silly mid on. The hat-trick ball almost yielded the desired result. The Kiwis, chasing an above-par score of 183, seemed down and out at 14/2 in the second over. Watching it all unravel at the other end was Tim Seifert.
Minds in the Kiwis dugout may have had flashbacks to 2024 T20 World Cup, when the same opposition had bundled them out for 75 runs.
Seifert however, had other ideas, as he played a big role, his 65 runs guiding New Zealand to an important victory.
Seifert and Phillips played out that phase of play but they were always on the look out for boundaries, it's how they had reached 2/52 after the end of the powerplay.
"You always want to be positive and put the bowlers under pressure. We bat right down and if there are early wickets, we have got great guys coming down there and adapting to the conditions. I thought we did that very well too," Seifert said in the mixed zone.
After handing left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi his costliest over, he saw another big blow. This time it was his partner Phillips, who was castled by Rashid Khan. Seifert could have taken a different route but showed his game awareness. He went back to the same method, of rotating strikes, looking for singles, before waiting for the change in bowling. After being dropped at 48 by Rashid Khan off his own delivery, he tore into Mohammad Nabi.
The two sixes and the boundary brought down the asking rate and allowed the Black Caps to settle down at a crucial phase of the game.
His knock comes on the back of his recent stints across franchise leagues recently, playing under the likes of Ricky Ponting, Kieron Pollard, Brendon McCullum and Phil Simmons.
Adapting to the situation is something that he takes away from the experience. Thanks to his casual playing contract with New Zealand, he has had the opportunity to play across the world. Over the last year, he appeared in the Big Bash League, ILT20, Major League Cricket, Pakistan Super League and Caribbean Premier League.
"Every wicket is a different wicket, especially playing around the world. No matter what tournament you are playing in, no matter what ground you're in, the wicket is going to be different. You have got to adapt and decide pretty quick how you are going to play on that wicket," he explained.
Post a two-year absence from the national team, Seifert earned a place, in his preferred position as opener and has shone. His averages went up from 22.81 (from his debut in 2018 to 2023) to 36.14 from the time when he opened in T20 cricket. His knack of scoring boundaries has also kept him in good stead.
"Over the last few years, I have been at the top consistently now, which is great. You're trying to find a method of playing up there. I have still got the ability to play down in the middle order for teams. Batting at the top, the main thing is to put pressure on the bowlers in the powerplay," he said.
This knock augurs well for New Zealand, as they drawn first blood in what could be described as a very tricky group also containing South Africa. In the lead-up to Tuesday's match against UAE, one can expect Seifert to continue his blistering form.