United Arab Emirates v West Indies
2nd One-Day International
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Toss: West Indies won and batted
Result: West Indies won by 78 runs
Scorecard: https://bit.ly/uaevwi2ndodi
Brandon King continued his good form in the series by following up his maiden ODI century in the first match with a well-played 64 (70 balls), which included four fours and four sixes. His opening partner, Johnson Charles was not to be left out, hitting eight fours and three sixes on his way to 63 (47 balls). That start played a crucial part in the Caribbean men gaining an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Batting first after winning the toss, the West Indies got to 129 before losing their first wicket, when Johnson Charles was dismissed. While they slowed up slightly after that dismissal, Shamarh Brooks (20 from 22 balls) and Keacy Carty (32 from 39 balls) made sure to steady the ship and continue building the platform for a big total.
Other valuable contributions with the bat in the middle came from captain Shai Hope (23 from 25 balls) and Kavem Hodge (26 from 28 balls), with Odean Smith scoring 37 from 24 balls, hitting three fours and a six batting at Number 6 and helped the West Indies to get over the 300 runs mark by in the process.
For UAE veteran pace bowler Zahoor Khan was the pick of the bowlers, with figures of 3-44 in his 9.5 over spell. Ali Naseer, Sanchit Sharma and Aayan Afzal Khan picked up two wickets a piece to assist in bowling out the West Indies for 306, with one ball to spare in the inning.
In reply, the visitors never really seemed likely to get close to the total, losing their captain Muhammad Waseem (6 from 13 balls) in the fourth over. Vriitya Aravind came to the crease and made a well-played 36 (52 balls), which was followed up with quite a few notable batting performances from his teammates. Basil Hameed fell agonizingly short of his half-century, scoring 49 (84 balls) and Ali Naseer (57 from 53 balls), however, the UAE rate of scoring was never quick enough to worry the away team.
The wickets were split up between the West Indies bowling attack, with Hodge (2-46) and Roston Chase (2-49) being the standouts, with Hodge getting his first two scalps for the visitors. Akeem Jordan, who also picked up his first wicket on debut, Smith and Yannic Carriah all got one wicket, with UAE ending on 228-7 from their allotment of overs.
Speaking in his player-of-the-match interview, Charles said: “Winning man-of-the-match means that you have done something good for the team, especially in a winning effort. Somebody must take the pressure off the other batsmen, so that is my role, and I am just trying to do it to the best of my ability.”
The third match and final match of the series will be at the same venue on Friday. The first ball is at 4:30 pm local time (8:30 am Eastern Caribbean/7:30 am Jamaica). West Indies have a 2-0 lead following their victory by seven wickets in the opening match last Sunday.