West Indies and United Arab Emirates face each other in their first-ever bilateral series starting at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah on Sunday, June 4. Both teams will take this opportunity to start early preparation for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier which starts on June 18 in Zimbabwe. West Indies and UAE are placed in different groups in the Qualifiers with the former being favorites to top their group. This will be the first assignment for newly appointed head coach Daren Sammy who will be without the services of star spinners Gudakesh Motie and Akeal Hosein.
UAE and West Indies last played each other in ICC World Cup Qualifier in 2018 at Harare Sports Club. UAE fell 60 runs short while chasing a mammoth 358-run target despite a famous century by Rameez Shahzad.
Pitch Report - UAE vs WI
The pitch at Sharjah Cricket Stadium favors both batters and bowlers in ODIs with a balanced surface. The average first innings score here is 223 and it slips to below 200 in the second innings. The pitch favors spin bowlers slightly and ground stats favor the team batting first. With over 250 ODIs played here, teams have never managed to chase a 300-plus target here.
Will Toss Matter?
Not likely. Sharjah's pitch favors bowlers a little and teams batting first hold a better record here but West Indies are likely to dominate the game due to the clear difference in quality between the two teams.
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah - The Numbers Game
Basic ODI Stats
- Total matches: 252
- Matches won batting first: 132
- Matches won bowling first: 118
Average ODI Stats
- Average 1st Innings scores: 223
- Average 2nd Innings scores: 191
Score Stats for ODI matches
- Highest total recorded - 364/7 (50 Ov) by PAK vs NZ
- Lowest total recorded - 54/10 (26.3 Ov) by IND vs SL
- Highest score chased - 285/2 (47.5 Ov) by AUS vs PAK
- Lowest score defended - 138/9 (50 Ov) by PAKW vs SLW
Full Squads -
UAE Squad: Muhammad Waseem (c), Ansh Tandon, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Ethan DSouza, Jonathan Figy, Rameez Shahzad, Aayan Afzal Khan, Fahad Nawaz, Rohan Mustafa, Vriitya Aravind (wk), Aryansh Sharma, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Jawadullah, Mohammed Faraazuddin, Lovepreet Singh, Adhitya Shetty, Ali Naseer, Junaid Siddique, Sanchit Sharma, Karthik Meiyappan, Zahoor Khan
West Indies Squad: Shai Hope (c & wk), Brandon King, Alick Athanaze, Shamarh Brooks, Kavem Hodge, Johnson Charles, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Keemo Paul, Raymon Reifer, Yannic Cariah, Dominic Drakes, Akeem Jordan, Kevin Sinclair, Odean Smith
