Staff Writer – Archi
Sports news. The West Indies booked a quarterfinal place after overpowering the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by six wickets in their last Pool B match, at Napier, New Zealand, on Sunday. They reached their victory target of 176 in just 30.3 overs. The win helped Windies finish with same number of points with Ireland, but they cruised into the knock-out stage by virtue of better run-rate. They will now meet World Cup co-hosts New Zealand in the quarterfinals.
After a laboured performance in the field in the must-win match, the West Indies picked up the intensity when batting, as the storm clouds on the fringes of Cyclone Pam edged towards McLean Park. A washout would have ended their World Cup campaign but the weather held off and the West Indies got the win they needed.
Charles, making his first appearance after being brought in as an injury replacement for Darren Bravo, was thrust into the starting XI at the last minute when opener Chris Gayle pulled out with a back injury. But there was no sign of rustiness as he and fellow opener Dwayne Smith launched into Nasir Aziz when UAE skipper Mohammad Tauqir decided his batting hero should open the bowling with a touch of spin.
Charles’ cavalier innings ended on 55 off 40 deliveries and Andre Russell added seven before Carter (50 not out) and Denesh Ramdin (33 not out) saw the West Indies to a comfortable victory. Captain Jason Holder chose to field first after winning the toss in the hope of bowling out the UAE cheaply.
He played his part with his best World Cup performance of four for 27 as he bowled himself out at the top of the innings. But once Holder had used up his 10 overs and UAE were on the ropes, Javed and Aziz found the middle-overs attack of Kemar Roach much to their liking.
Johnson Charles. Photo courtesy www.rediff.com
Aziz, in only his third ODI and not required to bat in the first two, looked very accomplished as he smacked eight fours in his 60 off 86 deliveries. Javed topped his previous best of 42 as he reached his first half-century and with Aziz he posted the equal fourth-highest partnership in the UAE’s ODI history after also making 107 with Shaiman Anwar earlier against Ireland.
But once Aziz and Javed were dismissed the innings folded quickly, with the last three wickets falling for eight runs
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