The West Indies beat the elements in a six-wicket win over the United Arab Emirates on Sunday to stake their claim for a place in the quarterfinals. Needing to win emphatically to press for a top-four place in Pool B, and with a tropical cyclone looming, the West Indies let slip a strong beginning by allowing the UAE to escape from 26-5 to reach 175. That complicated the task of boosting their run rate but they redeemed themselves with the bat, reaching their victory target in 30.3 overs. That ensured Tropical Cyclone Pam, bearing down on New Zealand after causing devastation in the Pacific, didn’t decide their World Cup fate. They could have missed the quarterfinals if wind and rain had washed out Sunday’s match.
The West Indies avoided that possibility with some pre-mediated heavy-hitting at the start of the run-chase. Johnson Charles led the charge as the West Indies hurried to 33-0 after three overs and 109-3 at the 15th over, shortly before Charles’ dismissal for 55. Charles was included in the starting lineup for his first game at this World Cup as a replacement for master batsman Chris Gayle, who was ruled out with a back injury.
Jonathan Carter then made an unbeaten 50 — his maiden ODI half century — and Denesh Ramdin 33 not out to complete the job. But the West Indies’ qualification for the quarterfinals still depended on the outcome of the last match in pool play between Pakistan and Ireland, which concluded in Adelaide later on Sunday.
While it made its run rate superior to both Ireland and Pakistan and drew level with those teams on six points, it still faced the faint possibility of exclusion from the knockout rounds if Ireland beat Pakistan. “Obviously it was a must-win game for us and we needed to win by a big margin,” West Indies captain Jason Holder said. “Credit to the guys, they played well and hopefully we can go forward into the quarterfinals.
“We had the right intent. We were determined to finish the game before 36 overs which was key for our run-rate and did what was necessary to play an attacking game.”
No rift: Holder
Holder, who appeared to be involved in an on-field argument with former captain Darren Sammy during the match, dismissed talk of a rift in the ranks. UAE were reduced to 46-6 before Nasir Aziz and Amjad Javed staged a 107-run stand. Sammy was brought on to try to break the partnership with the score at 108-6 after 30 overs and was not happy when taken out of the attack after just one over that yielded four runs.
Sammy and Holder appeared to have strong words which Holder later played down as “a little banter on the field” saying they wanted to have some fun but “unfortunately it probably didn’t look that way.” He later conceded they “had a little tussle there. It’s just part of the game. At the end of the day we shake hands and still smile together.”
Sammy later posted a picture on Instagram of him enjoying a beer with Holder in the locker room although his conciliatory smile was in stark contrast to his captain’s stony-faced expression.