West Indies did what they had to do to stand a chance of qualifying for the quarterfinals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 with a handsome victory over the UAE, a win which pushed them up the Pool B table all the way to third.
Jason Holder's men needed a win, minimum, to stay in quarterfinal contention, and they got that via a six-wicket victory, battling past the UAE and most importantly Cyclone Pam, which stayed away long enough to get a result in Napier.
Choosing to bowl first, West Indies put UAE in big, big trouble early on, with Holder and Taylor coming to the fore, before an outstanding partnership between Amjad Javed and Nasir Aziz gave UAE hope.
However, that hope did not last long, as they eventually folded for 175 in 47.4 overs, with the West Indies getting to the target in the 31st over with relative ease. It might have been a lot quicker, but it still gave West Indies enough run rate points to go above Pakistan's net run rate, while Ireland's was never in contention anyways.
What the result basically means is Pakistan vs Ireland is a winner-take all contest, with the only way West Indies cannot qualify for the quarterfinals being if that final Pool B match in Adelaide ends with a no result or a tie.
The only negative for West Indies on a decent day out was a tiff between skipper Holder and former captain Darren Sammy in the field.
Holder might have had it relatively easy with the ball in hand, however, his captaincy skills was put to the test as Sammy, normally the most "always puts the team first" players, threw a bit of tantrum on the field. Having been given the ball for an over, which went for four runs, Holder decided to take Sammy off the attack immediately, and the discontent of that decision was clear as day as the all-rounder made his feelings known to the entire world.
Sammy and Holder seemed to push past that little tiff, however, with the duo sitting beside each other later in the dressing room, and even giving each other a high five after the win – no doubt orchestrated by the backroom staff.
As for the chase, the quicker the better was the West Indies mantra and opener Johnson Charles, in for the injured Chris Gayle, and Dwayne Smith raced them to 33 in three overs, before the inevitable wicket, when you're throwing your bat at everything fell, with the latter dismissed by Manjula Guruge.
West Indies kept the quick run rate up -- not at over ten an over, but pretty quick still – with Marlon Samuels not quite able to add too much to the score. Jonathan Carter, though, did, putting on 56 runs in under eight overs with Charles, before the opener's wicket and that of Andre Russell, sent in to bash a few, soon after saw the left-hander then take over alongside Denesh Ramdin.
However, having lost those four wickets, West Indies decided to drop anchor and ensure they don't lose anymore wickets, while also making sure they got the target in time to go over Pakistan on net run rate, which they duly did.
Earlier, the UAE were in deep, deep trouble before Javed and Aziz rescued them with a tremendous 107-run partnership for the seventh wicket.
Jason Holder and Jerome Taylor had run through the UAE top and middle order like a knife through hot butter, sending the Associate side crashing to 46/6, before that brilliant lower order partnership brought a semblance of respectability to the score.
Taylor might have taken most of the plaudits for West Indies' bowling at this World Cup, and rightly so, but it Holder that impressed most in this innings, with the skipper bowling his 10 overs on the trot and finishing with four for 27.
The UAE might have gone past the 200-run mark had Andre Russell not found a way through Javed's defences, and once the partnership was broken, it was easy as one, two, three for the West Indies.
Get the Full Scorecard of the Match HERE
