Openers shine as Windies beat UAE, take unassailable lead

Mohammad Abdullah, Senior Sports Reporter

Openers Brandon King and Jonson Charles gave a blistering start to help West Indies set up a 78-run victory over the UAE in the second ODI in Sharjah on Tuesday.

After posting a huge total of 306 runs, West Indies restricted the UAE to 228/7 to register their second successive win and take an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the three-match series.

Chasing, UAE got off to a faltering start as the captain Muhammad Waseem failed to give a sound start and was dismissed after scoring only six runs.

Vriitya Anand and Aryansh Sharma shared a 22-run partnership in a bid to stabilize the innings before the latter fell prey to Odean Smith. UAE batsmen failed to convert their start into big scores.

UAE were soon reduced to 95-5 but Ali Nasser smacked the second consecutive fifty and shared an 80-run stand with Basil Hameed for the sixth wicket to lead a brief fightback and frustrate the West Indies bowlers.

Both the batsmen played with determination and kept the West Indies bowlers at bay. The UAE batsmen had consumed too many deliveries, which left too much to be done by the duo.

The slow scoring rate had virtually ended their hopes of chasing the huge target but they were still afloat mathematically.

Nasser reached his second ODI fifty with the help of six fours and three sixes. Hameed missed it by a whisker as he got out for 49. Ayan hit a 23-ball 25 as UAE managed to muster 228/7 in their allotted 50 overs.

Earlier, both the openers made their intentions clear right from the word go. It was Charles, who was more aggressive as King chose to play a foil after scoring a century in the first match.

Both the batsmen batted resolutely and shared a 129-run stand for the wicket and laid down a strong foundation. West Indies looked set to go past a total of 350 plus before Zahoor Khan and Sanchit Sharma led a late fightback for the UAE to thwart the visitors to 306.

After, Charles took 18 runs off Ali, Aayan Afzal Khan choked the flow of runs to some extent. However, Charles raced to his fifty in 33 deliveries. Ali had the last laugh as he dismissed Charles for 63 runs. He hit eight fours and three sixes during his stint at the crease.

Kings seemed to have picked up from where he left in the first match. He played another composed and calm innings.

Adhitya Shetty, who made his debut, got rid of King to claim his first scalp of the ODI. Dismissal of Charles opened the floodgates for the UAE bowlers. West Indies kept on losing the wickets on regular intervals and failed to get the partnership going.

Zahoor and Aayan ripped through the middle order. Zahoor got Keacy Carty caught by Shetty and rattled the stumps of Smith and Dominic Drakes while Sanchit sent back Shai Hope and Yannic Cariah.

Aayan also got the prize wicket of Roston Chase after uprooting the stumps of Shamarah Brooks.

However, West Indies managed to go past the total of 300 which always a psychological advantage in the ODI games.

West Indies had defeated the UAE in the first match by five wickets. Both the teams are currently in contention for a spot in the World Cup. They will fly directly from here to play in the World Qualifiers to be held in Zimbabwe later this month.

West Indies who are two-time World champions have to play in the qualifiers to make their place in the World Cup.

Action from the second ODI match between West Indies and the UAE.