The West Indies produced a fine team display to secure a series victory over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a 78-run win in the second One-day International (ODI). The match was played at the Sharjah International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday (June 6).
West Indies won the toss in the 2nd ODI and elected to bat first. Johnson Charles and Brandon King, the centurion of the previous match provided a scintillating start to their team. The attacking opening duo scored runs all around the park by punishing the bad balls. Charles and King took full advantage of the powerplay and got the better of the opponent’s bowling attack by scoring at a blistering pace.
During his impactful inning of 63 in 47 deliveries, Charles smashed eight fours and three sixes. He and King added a 129-run opening stand in just 16 overs. King led the scoring for West Indies with 64 runs from 70 deliveries, while Keacy Carty (32), Shai Hope (23) and Kavem Hodge (26) made their contribution with the bat in the middle order. Odean Smith hammered 37 runs off 24 deliveries before being bowled out by Zahoor Khan (3/44) who also ended the Windies innings in 49.5 overs.
Chasing 307 for victory, UAE openers Mohammad Waseem and Aryansh Sharma failed to capitalise on the presence of only two fielders outside the ring in the starting ten overs. They both departed early, courtesy of some tight bowling from the new ball operators of West Indies.
Vriitra Avarind withstood the early pressure to compile 36, while Basil Hameed (49) and Ali Naseer (57) helped the home team bat through the full 50 overs. But they could only manage to take the team total to 228/7. Eventually, West Indies won the match by 78 runs and took an invincible lead of 2-0 in the three-match series.
It was the first ODI series victory for the newly appointed captain Shai Hope and head coach Daren Sammy.
Notably, West Indies won the first match at the same venue by seven wickets with 88 balls to spare. The third and final ODI is scheduled for Friday (June 9) in Sharjah.
WI WIN! This takes the #MenInMaroon 2 – 0 in the series. #UAEvWI pic.twitter.com/dDS3kyB4bM
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) June 6, 2023
Just his 2nd match back in the ODI maroon to add another half century. #UAEvWI pic.twitter.com/arO1LSyajP
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) June 6, 2023
