Five-star Hosein helps West Indies blow Uganda away

Akeal Hosein scythed through Uganda in a sublime opening spell, using his swinging seam-up delivery to devastating effect, plundering five wickets for 11 runs.

That spell sent West Indies hurtling to a 134-run victory on a slow Providence deck. The seamers backed Hosein’s spell up, delivering some excellent wicket balls of their own. Together they sent Uganda crashing to 39 all out – the joint-lowest total in the T20 World Cup.

Earlier, in difficult batting conditions, Johnson Charles struck 44 off 42, and Andre Russell cracked 30 not out off 17, as West Indies willed their way to 173 for 5.

Uganda were doughty with the ball and, despite at least two missed chances, generally good in the field. Though several West Indies batters made starts, Uganda’s slow bowlers, in particular, found ways to peg them back.

It was a spell of dreams. From the outset, it was clear that when Hosein chose to put revs into the ball, he would get good turn the first ball – a left-arm spinner’s stock ball – ragging past Roger Mukasa’s outside edge.

But it was Hosein’s mastery of drift/swing and his impeccable control that gave him the most venom in this game. The next ball to Mukasa was a seam-up ball that curved in and struck the sweeping batter in front of middle and off. Next over, the ball that struck Alpesh Ramjani in front of middle had also moved in the air, late.

Riazat Ali Shah, perhaps Uganda’s best batter, was beaten even more emphatically by the swinging seam-up ball, watching it crash into middle stump.

Then in his last over – the seventh of the innings – Hosein dismissed Dinesh Nakrani and Kenneth Waiswa, the first bowled and the second another lbw, again using movement in the air before pitching. He left Uganda flailing at 23 for 7, all their batting resources spent, and with little hope of even surpassing the 58 they had made against Afghanistan last week – their previous lowest score.

It’s not often you would describe a Charles innings as an anchor, but this is effectively what it was in this game. Though he struck some early fours through cover before working himself up to some six-hitting, he still only had 24 off 21 balls at the end of the powerplay.

But his presence at the crease allowed other batters to play more aggressively, most in the West Indies top order just waiting for balls in their area to hit sixes off. Rovman Powell struck the biggest one of the day – his 107-metre monster down the ground off Frank Nsubuga’s bowling going over the top of one of the stands.

It says something about the nature of this surface, and also the tenacity of Uganda’s bowling, that West Indies did not manage a six after the 14th over. But Russell and Sherfane Rutherford still found ways to provide West Indies with that final burst. Russell did this most effectively in the final over, when he blasted Cosmas Kyewuta for two fours through point, then later found another couple of boundaries off the outside edge.

All up, West Indies made 45 off the last four overs.

Source: ESPNCricinfo