MELBOURNE: The ICC T20 World Cup 2022 warm-up matches kicked off here as West Indies outclassed United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 17 runs, while Scotland emerged victorious over the Netherlands by 18 runs in the second match.

West Indies, batting first on the invitation of UAE captain Chundangapoyil Rizwan, finished at 152/9 in the allotted 20 overs, thanks to a brilliant fourth-wicket partnership between King and Pooran.

West Indies endured a fierce challenge from a gritty UAE side as they put up a fantastic bowling display against the two-time world champions, led by Junaid Siddique’s 4-0-13-5 spell.

King’s 64 and skipper Pooran’s 46 helped the Caribbean team to 152/9 in their 20 overs.

Set to chase 153, UAE fell 17 runs short of victory as they finished at 135/6 in their quota of 20 overs despite a magnificent knock of 69 from Muhammad Waseem.

The opening batter held his ground firm while the side was losing wickets at regular intervals which prohibited them from amassing the total.

Zawar Farid played an excellent cameo of 29* off 14 towards the end of their innings, putting on an excellent stand of 53 runs with Waseem. But that came too late in the innings.

In the second match of the day, Scotland outclassed the Netherlands by 18 runs at the same venue.

Batting first, Scotland accumulated 15/1 in 20 overs, at the back of Richie Berrington’s 41 and Michael Leask’s 37.

The rest of the batters, on the other hand, also made handy contributions and bolstered their side to put on a defendable total.

Dutch bowlers Brandon Glover and Bas de Leede put on a show with the ball for their side, picking up three wickets each.

Scotland then put on a disciplined bowling performance in the run chase and restricted the Netherlands to 133/7, winning the match by 18 runs.

Max O’Dowd top-scored for the Netherlands with 43, whereas Brad Wheal was the pick of the Scotland bowlers with figures of 2/24 to his name.

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