Exclusive: UAE captain Rizwan delighted with Junaid's five-wicket haul against West Indies

Siddique's five wickets and opening batsman Muhammad Waseem's brilliant half-century were not enough as the UAE lost to the West Indies

Rituraj Borkakoty

Published: Mon 10 Oct 2022, 10:11 PM

Last updated: Mon 10 Oct 2022, 11:17 PM

Captain CP Rizwan showered Junaid Siddique with praise after the pace bowler's magical display earned the UAE a shot at beating the West Indies on Monday in their first official warm-up game in Melbourne ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup (October 16-November 13).

In the end, Siddique's five wickets and opening batsman Muhammad Waseem's brilliant half-century were not enough as the UAE lost to the two-time T20 world champions by 17 runs.

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Inspired by Junaid's five-wicket haul, the UAE had restricted the West Indies to a modest score of 152 for nine in 20 overs.

In reply, the UAE made 135 for six in 20 overs with opener Waseem (69 not out off 51 balls, 4 fours, 3 sixes) scoring a brilliant half-century.

But Waseem lacked support from the other end as the experienced West Indies bowling attack managed to strike regular blows.

Earlier, Junaid got the wickets of opener Johnson Charles (1), Brandon King (64), Raymon Reifer (1), Odean Smith (5) and Akeal Hosein (0) to break the back of the West Indies batting line-up as he returned with stunning figures of 4-0-13-5.

"It was pleasing to see Junaid running through the West Indies batting line-up. He bowled really well with the new ball. And he came back and bowled really well with the old ball as well in the death overs," skipper Rizwan told the Khaleej Times from Melbourne on Monday.

"So definitely as a captain, it was very pleasing to see our main bowler stepping up on the big occasion against the West Indies, who are the two-time world champions in T20 cricket. So hopefully he will take this confidence into the upcoming matches."

Zahoor Khan (4-0-24-2), the team's other medium-pacer, was also impressive, taking the key wicket of West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran (46).

"Zahoor bowled really well. So our two most experienced bowlers bowled really well on a pitch that assisted the fast bowlers. It was good to see that they extracted whatever help they got from the wicket," Rizwan said.

"The spinners had an off day slightly because the boundary was shorter on one side. So obviously it was slightly harder for the spinners. But overall, it was very satisfying to restrict the West Indies, one of the powerhouses in T20 cricket, to a modest score of 152."

Chasing the modest score, the UAE batsmen failed to support Waseem who paced his innings superbly.

Only Zawar Farid (29 not out off 14 balls, 4 fours, 1 six), the number eight, came up with an impressive cameo as the UAE scored 29 runs in the final two overs of their innings.

"Waseem played really well, he was there until the end. What we missed was a good partnership, like we had in the end between Waseem and Zawar," said Rizwan.

"Had we got a couple of good partnerships, I believe we would have won the match. But we can take a lot of positives out of this practice match against the West Indies. We will try to take the positives and try to take it forward for the upcoming matches."

The UAE will play Scotland in Melbourne in their final warm-up game on October 13 before opening their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on October 16.

They will face Asian champions Sri Lanka in their next game on October 18 before finishing their Group A campaign in the first round against Namibia on October 18.

The top two teams from the group will earn a chance to play against top guns India, Pakistan and South Africa in Group 2 at the Super 12.

Had we got a couple of good partnerships, I believe we would have won the match. But we can take a lot of positives out of this practice match against the West Indies

CP Rizwan,

UAE captain