Published: Mar 15, 2015, 03:15 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 15, 2015, 03:15 PM (IST)
After Ireland pulled off that empathic win against West Indies at Nelson last month, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) too hoped to repeat the feat when they faced the Caribbean side in Napier in their last game of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. While UAE looked to spoil West Indies’ quarterfinal party, the latter wasn’t really concerned about the opponent much but rather the looming cyclone ‘Pam’.
Like skipper Jason Holder had said on the match eve that his side could control only what can be controlled, he exactly did that. Putting UAE in, on a sluggish day with the weather threat on, all West Indies could do was bowl well. The captain led from the front by picking the first three wickets and reducing UAE to 17 for three in the sixth over. At 46 for six, when it just seemed that the innings closure was a matter of time, then Amjad Javed (56) and Nasir Aziz (60) put-on a partnership of 107 runs. The fightback ensured UAE a total of 175. (ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Points Table)
West Indies began the innings in a hurry. Dwayne Smith scored a quick 15 from nine but failed to carry on and Johnson Charles, who was replacing the injured Chris Gayle filled up the void perfectly by belting 55 from 40 balls. Andre Russell was promoted to number five to finish things early but after he fell, West Indies slowed down things and chased off the total in the 31st over. Jonathan Carter scored an unbeaten fifty while Denesh Ramdin remained unbeaten on 33.
West Indies did what they could and won the match comprehensively with skipper Holder getting the man-of-the-match. They have qualified for the quarterfinal, unless the Ireland-Pakistan match ends in a tie or a washout.
Brief scores:
UAE 175 in 47.4 overs (Amjad Javed 56, Nasir Aziz 60; Jerome Taylor 3-36, Jason Holder 4-27, Andre Russell 2-20) lost to West Indies 176 for 4 in 30.3 overs (Johnson Charles 55, Jonathan Carter 50; Manjula Guruge 2-40, Amjad Javed 2-29) – by six wickets
