GUYANA (West Indies): Akeal Hosein weaved magic with his spin and restricted Uganda to the joint-lowest total in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Hosein was the architect of Uganda’s downfall, his relentless attack allowed the co-hosts to hammer their opposition comprehensively and sealed a thumping 134-run win at the Providence Stadium on Saturday (local time).
Hosein completed his five-wicket haul in the first seven overs. Uganda batters struggled to read his variation and lost their wickets by getting bowled or trapped in front of the stumps for LBW. They struggled to counter Hosein and the rest of the West Indies bowlers joined the action to make quick work of Uganda.
Uganda folded on 39 in 12 overs which is the joint-lowest total in the competition’s history. The Netherlands bundled out for a score of 39 against Sri Lanka in Chattogram in 2014. West Indies flattered their fans and maintained their unbeaten run in the ongoing edition of the competition.
Earlier in the innings, the game started with two quiet overs after West Indies won the toss. Johnson Charles decided to open his arms and play on the offensive foot against the Uganda pacers.
Johnson’s compatriot Brandon King was dismissed by left-arm spinner Alpesh Ramjani. Nicholas Pooran smashed three quick towering sixes to keep the momentum in West Indies’ favour. Pooran’s attacking intent was out shortly as he attempted to clear the rope in skipper Brian Masaba.
The co-hosts enjoyed a short-lived 29-run stand between Charles and captain Rovman Powell. In the 11th over, Powell showed his sheer power as he muscled the ball out of the stadium and registered a 107m six.
However, both batters couldn’t make the most of their strong start. After the duo’s dismissal, Uganda found a way back and pulled off successive yorkers to keep West Indies batters at bay. Their death bowling was executed to near perfection.
They restricted the hard-hitting duo of Andre Russell and Romario Shepherd mainly to runs behind square. But their well-executed efforts in death overs went in vain with Russell picking up four boundaries which powered West Indies to 173/5.
Brief Score: West Indies 173/5 (Johnson Charles 44, Andre Russell 30*; Brian Masaba 2-31) vs Uganda 39 (Juma Miyagi 13*; Akeal Hosein 5-11, Alzarri Joseph 2-6). (ANI)