DUBAI: West Indies’ openers Brandon King and Johnson Charles scored fifties before bowlers propelled West Indies to a thumping 78-run victory over UAE in the second ODI and sealed the three-match UAE vs WI ODI series with a match to spare.
Set to chase a massive 307-run target, UAE could only accumulate 228 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their quota of 50 overs.
The home side had a dismal start to the pursuit and kept losing wickets at regular intervals as the ruthless West Indian bowling attack restricted them to 95/5 in the 24th over.
With the hosts in heaps of trouble, lower middle-order batters Basil Hameed and Ali Naseer led UAE’s fightback as they stitched a fighting 80-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
The duo appeared to have settled down but the mounting required run-rate forced Basil to make a costly error which devoided him of his well-deserved half-century.
He could score 49 off 84 deliveries, hitting a boundary and three sixes.
UAE then succumbed to another massive blow as Ali Naseer also fell two overs later.
Naseer smashed six boundaries and three sixes on his way to top score for UAE with a 53-ball 57.
Tailenders Aayan Afzal Khan and Sanchit Sharma then put on an unbeaten 30-run partnership but it was not enough as West Indies registered a massive victory.
Kavem Hodge and Roston Chase bagged two wickets each for the West Indies while Akeem Jordan, Odean Smith and Yannic Cariah made one scalp each.
West Indies’ batters dominated the inexperienced UAE bowling attack and backed their skipper Shai Hope’s decision to bat first in the second ODI of the three-match series, led by the visitors 1-0.
The opening pair of in-form Brandon King and Johnson Charles scripted a solid start to the West Indies’ batting charge as they put on a brilliant 129-run partnership until Ali Naseer got rid of the latter on the final delivery of the 17th over.
Johnson Charles was the core aggressor of the opening stand and he smashed eight boundaries and three sixes on his way to a brisk 47-ball 63.
Brandon King then put on a brief second-wicket partnership with Shamarh Brooks before perishing in the 22nd over.
He remained the top-scorer for the West Indies with a gritty 64 off 70 deliveries, laced up with four boundaries and as many sixes.
Following King’s dismissal, the West Indies began to lose wickets at regular intervals which halted the flow of runs for the touring side.
All-rounder Odean Smith’s crucial 37-run knock at the backend made sure that the West Indies breach the 300-run mark.
He scored a quickfire 37 in just 24 balls with the help of three boundaries and a six.
Zahoor Khan led the bowling attack for the UAE with 3/44, while Ali Naseer, Sanchit Sharma and Aayan Afzal Khan bagged two wickets each.