Brandon King scored a majestic century at Sharjah Cricket Stadium as West Indies thrashed United Arab Emirates (UAE) by seven wickets in the first of three ODIs and took a 1-0 lead on June 4 (Sunday). Chasing a target of 203 runs, the Men in Maroon got off to a decent start as King and Johnson Charles registered a 48-run alliance for the opening wicket. Charles (24 runs off 19 balls) was cleaned up by Zahoor Khan on the second ball of the 9th over.
King and Shamrah Brooks combined for a 91-run stand for the second wicket that iced the game. King don the hat of an aggressor while Brooks played the anchor role and rotated the strike brilliantly to keep the scoreboard moving. After scoring 44 runs off 58 balls, Brooks was undone by Afzal Khan.
King continued his assault on UAE bowlers and brought up his century before Rohan Mustafa ended the West Indies' opener's vigil at the crease. The right-handed batter departed after scoring 112 runs off as many deliveries with the help of 12 fours and four sixes.
Captain Shai Hope played a cameo of 13 runs off four balls in which he smashed two sixes as the Men in Maroon secured the win with 14.4 overs to spare.
Decision to bat first backfires
Earlier, UAE won the toss and elected to bat first. The decision backfired quickly after captain Muhammad Waseem departed for a two-ball duck. Aryansh Sharma (five runs off five balls) fell cheaply, leaving UAE stranded at 25/2. Vriitya Aravind (40 runs off 77 balls) and Rameez Shahzad (16 runs off 31 balls) combined for a 75-run partnership that steadied UAE's stuttering ship.
UAE lost their way thereafter as they lost three wickets for just seven runs. At 107/5, the hosts were staring at a major collapse. Ali Naseer played a crucial knock of 58 runs off 52 balls that helped UAE cross the 200-run mark. But losing wickets in a cluster came back to haunt UAE as they were bundled out for just 202 runs in 47.1 overs.
For West Indies, Keemo Paul bagged three wickets while Dominic Drakes, Odean Smith and Yannic Cariah chipped in with two wickets each. All-rounder and right-arm off-spinner Roston Chase also bagged a wicket.
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