Windies win to sneak into quarter-finals

UPDATE

The West Indies superior net run rate and Pakistan's victory over Ireland has allowed the Caribbean team to slip into the knockout stages of the Cricket World Cup.

The West Indies and Ireland finished the pool stages on six points each, with three wins apiece, but the Windies NRR of -0.053 was ahead of Ireland's -0.933. 

Jason Holder's team will now face New Zealand in the fourth quarter-final in Wellington, next Saturday, March 21st. The winner of that match will progress to a semi-final in Auckland against the winner of the quarter-final between Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Match Report

The West Indies have completed a comfortable six-wicket victory over the United Arab Emirates to stay in the hunt for a berth in the cricket World Cup quarter-finals.

After winning the toss and bowling out the UAE for 175, the West Indians reached 4-176 with more than 19 overs to spare.

As well as bumping up their run rate, they ensured Cyclone Pam, forecast to hit New Zealand later on Sunday, wouldn't be a factor.

The West Indies are in a three-way battle with Pakistan and Ireland for the last two play-offs spots from pool B.

Attention now turns to Adelaide, where Pakistan and Ireland are engaged in the tournament's last pool fixture, which will confirm the make-up of the quarter-finals.

West Indies skipper Jason Holder, man-of-the-match after scything through the UAE top order, was delighted with his side's performance at McLean Park.

"Obviously it was a must-win game for us," he said.

"We needed to win by a certain margin, so credit to the way the guys played and hopefully we can go into the quarter-finals."

Holder took the first three wickets to fall as the UAE were reduced to 3-17, and he finished with 4-27 after bowling himself unchanged for the full 10 overs.

"The ball came out really well for me at the start and I got a bit of swing and bounce," he said.

"It was just about putting the ball in the right area and fortunately I got some wickets."

With the UAE at 6-46, it seem the West Indies might have a meagre target to chase.

But they were frustrated by Amjad Javed and Nasir Aziz, who produced a 107-run stand, the highest for the UAE against a Test nation.

Javed completed his maiden ODI half-century with 56, while off-spinner Aziz, in his third one-dayer but having his first bat, made 60.

The West Indies began their chase without big-hitting opener Chris Gayle, who was out with a back complaint.

Replacement Johnson Charles produced some solid blows of his own with 55 off 40 balls.

After cracking 11 boundaries, including two sixes, Charles was caught while trying to push the score along after the West Indies took their batting power play in just the 12th over.

An unbroken half-century stand between Jonathan Carter (50) and Denesh Ramdin (33) carried their side home.

The UAE's squad of part-timers will depart the World Cup without a win but skipper Mohammad Tauqir said they could take plenty away from the past month.

"It was a decent performance from us in this tournament," he said.

"It was a good learning experience and we want to learn from our mistakes."

Quick Single: Ireland-Pakistan clash to keep dreams alive

West Indies: Dwayne Smith, Johnson Charles, Marlon Samuels, Jonathan Carter, Denesh Ramdin, Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy, Andre Russell, Jason Holder(captain), Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor.

UAE: Amjad Ali, Andri Berenger, Krishna Karate, Khurram Khan, Shaiman Anwar, Swapnil Patil, Amjad Javed, Mohammad Naveed, Mohammad Tauqir(c), Manjula Guruge, Nasir Aziz.