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New Zealand head coach Gary Stead has said that his team’s first goal is to reach the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE and Oman.

He also added that Kiwis have tough opponents to face in their group and there are 6-7 teams who can win the showpiece event which is good for world cricket.

"Every tournament you go in, you go in with high hopes, hope to win games and put yourself in a position to achieve that," Stead said during a virtual media interaction after arriving in the UAE.

"I guess our first one is focusing on one game at a time, but the main goal is to get to that semi-finals stage and if you're there, you'll know that you're only two wins away from a title. We're in a tough pool, I genuinely think there are six-seven teams that could win this tournament, and I guess that's good for world cricket as well," he said.

Stead said that Kiwis are also wary of the challenging conditions they could face in the UAE. They will play two games in Sharjah, where pitches will become sluggish after the end of this IPL.

"I've watched a fair bit of the IPL. It looks like there are three different surfaces and even as the tournament progresses, there seems to be the odd bit of rogue score - a very high-scoring game in Abu Dhabi, where 190 got chased down but the norm has been anywhere between 120 through to 150 mark,”

“With the three grounds, I guess, they will provide different options and opportunities that we need to consider as well. We will certainly be calling on the expertise of and knowledge of those guys that have been playing in the IPL - what they can add to our intel as well,” he added.