There was no repeat of a UAE victory against New Zealand on Saturday but the close defeat gave captain Saqib Nazir plenty of optimism that the men’s team can go far in the Indoor Cricket World Cup.

There was no shortage of support at InSportz Club as more than 150 home fans gathered around Pitch 3 for the second meeting between the two sides in less than a week. The UAE had stunned the six-time runners-up on Monday but couldn’t make it a double on Saturday.

New Zealand, featuring ex-Test player Jesse Ryder, got their revenge by defeating the hosts 125-111 (26-30, 40-20, 23-24, 36-70).

With most rules similar to the outdoor game, each player bowled two overs and batted as a pair for four overs. For each wicket that fell, the batting team lost five points but the batsman could still continue until the allotted four overs (termed as skins) were over.

While New Zealand claimed the three points for the win, they got an extra point for winning the second skin (40-20) with skipper Victor Davies top-scoring with 25. But there was something to celebrate for the UAE, who earned three points for winning three skins (30-26, 24-23, 70-36). Prashath Kumara was the top-scorer with 20 runs with Isuru Umesh taking two wickets.

“Losing is not a good feeling on the inside but we got three skins from a quality side which no one expected. We believe in our abilities and this team will go far I am sure,” said Nazir, who believes the team must improve their bowling.

“With them scoring 125, I wasn’t really surprised of our batting performance. I’m really happy that they believed in themselves and their ability. We always knew we are a quality side and can chase any score.”

Before a ball was even bowled, New Zealand copied their rugby counter-parts by performing the famous Haka. While the rest of the crowd were stunned, Nazir admitted it was something they were expecting.

“We had been watching videos and were expecting them to do the haka,” he said. “We wanted to do the UAE traditional dance but unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to do it.”

In other results, defending champions Australia, who have won every edition since its inception in 1995, thrashed Malaysia while India proved to be too strong for Singapore.