PROVIDENCE, Guyana: Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein’s career-best figures of five for 11 decimated an inept Ugandan batting line-up as the West Indies romped to a 134-run victory in a Group C match of the T20 World Cup at the Guyana National Stadium on Saturday.
Set a daunting target after the tournament co-hosts posted 173 for five batting first, the World Cup debutants looked completely out of their depth in being routed for 39 off 12 overs.
The score equalled the record of the Netherlands against Sri Lanka at the 2014 tournament for the lowest innings total in the T20 World Cup.
West Indies’ second win in as many matches pulls them level at the top of the table on points with Afghanistan although the Afghans remain in first position by virtue of a better net run-rate.
Now regularly entrusted with the responsibility of opening the bowling for the Caribbean team, Hosein felt the spectacular success on the night was just reward for continuous hard work and improvement.
“I needed this. In the nets and in the previous series we’ve played I felt the ball was coming out nicely but I just wasn’t getting the rewards,” he said after collecting the “Man of the Match” award.
“It’s a lot of hard work, especially when you start getting success. The way the game is moving, guys are going to study and come up with different plans, so you have to keep working to stay one step ahead of them every time.”
Just four days after a historic victory over Papua New Guinea, the Africans were made acutely aware of the yawning gap in class in the batting department, even if their bowlers still emerged from the match with considerable credit.
Opener Johnson Charles led the West Indies batting effort with a top score of 44 off 42 balls (four fours, two sixes), yet none in the celebrated power-hitting middle-order were able to cut loose.
Captain Brian Masaba earned the two important wickets of Nicholas Pooran and opposite number Rovman Powell with his wrist-spinners, while seamers Cosmas Kyewuta and Juma Miyagi impressed with their pace and accuracy.
It was left to Andre Russell with a 17-ball unbeaten 30 (six fours) to the West Indies innings late acceleration.
“It’s a very steep learning curve for us, especially in the batting department and we have to learn from this experience and understand what we need to do to keep ourselves in the game,” said Masaba in assessing the overall effort of his team.
“It’s a huge challenge (this World Cup debut) but it’s something we’re enjoying and we understand if we are going to get better we need to be playing against opposition like this a bit more and over time we will be able to narrow the gap.”
For West Indies captain Rovman Powell, the improvement from a scrappy opening victory over PNG nearly a week earlier was particularly pleasing.
“That last game we were a little bit flat so coming into this game we just wanted to improve as a team and I think we’re up to 70-80 percent now and it’s good to see guys getting performances under their belts because moving forward it’s going to get tougher,” he noted.
“We have been playing good cricket as a team for the last 12 months or so it’s just for us to continue to improve because we understand the conditions and cricket isn’t easy in the Caribbean.”
T20 World Cup: Five-wicket Hosein shines as Windies thrash record-low Uganda
https://arab.news/88bgh
T20 World Cup: Five-wicket Hosein shines as Windies thrash record-low Uganda
- World Cup debutants looked completely out of their depth in being routed for 39 off 12 overs
- West Indies’ second win in as many matches pulls them level at the top of the table on points with Afghanistan
Nabucco Al-Maury has second crack at glory on Saudi Cup weekend
- French challenger aiming to go one better in the $1.5m Group 1 Al-Mneefah Cup
RIYADH: French raider Nabucco Al-Maury (FR) returns to Riyadh on Feb. 13 hoping to go one better than last year when finishing runner-up to RB Kingmaker (US) in the $1.5-million group one Al-Mneefah Cup, presented by the Ministry of Culture.
Trained in 2025 by Hamad Al-Jehani, the 6-year-old son of Assy (QA) joined the yard of Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte in Mont-de-Marsan last spring where he has continued to thrive.
Although he has not managed to reach the top step of the podium in the last couple of seasons, he has remained consistent. His last run in the group one The President Cup in December in Abu Dhabi, behind local champion HM Alchahine (FR), was particularly eye-catching.
“That was a really good performance,” said the French handler, who will also saddle the mare Lacaro du Croate (FR) in the 2,100-meter turf race.
“I didn’t train Nabucco Al-Maury when he came to Riyadh last year. He arrived in my yard in the spring, and we have progressively worked our way to the top.
“He has improved with each of his runs. His second place behind HM Alchahine was very good. We beat RB Kingmaker quite easily, which we hadn’t done before, so that was a great result.”
The Helal & Tahnon Alalawi-trained RB Kingmaker (US) will again feature amongst his opponents in the Al-Mneefah Cup. “I know that he is in it,” said the trainer.
“We beat him quite easily in Abu Dhabi, but he probably needed that race and we know he runs well in Riyadh.
“Maybe he will transform himself there. And I know that there is the very good mare of Alban de Mieulle, RB Mary Lylah (US), in the field, so we shall see.”
The only French-based trainer with runners in the two events for Purebred Arabians this year, he is also looking forward to saddling the 5-year-old mare Lacaro du Croate in the Al-Mneefah.
A winner of the group one Criterium des Pouliches – Wathba Stallions at La Teste in France last July, she has just made her seasonal reappearance in a conditions race at Pau where she finished second to dual Triple Crown champion Al-Ghadeer (FR).
“It was a good performance,” added the trainer. “She only saw Al-Ghadeer’s behind but that was to be expected. He did his job, she did hers. In fact, she did what we asked her to do.”
With exceptionally heavy rainfalls continuing across the southwest of France, their trainer decided last week to take both contenders to the Pau racecourse for a final blow-out.
“It’s just terrible how much rain we have had. Last weekend I was supposed to go away but then decided, no, I’m taking my horsebox and I’m going to drive to Pau to work them properly.
“Luckily, the jockeys were great and went along with my plan. They enjoyed a good gallop and are in good order.”
While Nabucco Al-Maury and Lacaro du Croate had to brave the difficult weather in France, Moshrif (FR), who is Thomas-Demeaulte’s runner in the $2 million group one Obaiya Arabian Classic, presented by Al-Hammadi Hospitals, has enjoyed the ambient temperatures in Riyadh.
“He has been in Riyadh for a while,” said the trainer. “We took him there for the prep race on Jan. 9, where he finished fifth. I hadn’t worked him a lot since he won his race in Morocco last year, so he wasn’t 100 percent fit yet, but it was still a good performance.”
The 8-year-old is a regular in Riyadh where he was the runner-up to the great Tilal Al-Khalediah in the 2024 running of the Al-Mneefah Cup, but this time he will tackle top-class opposition on dirt.
“He proved when ran in January that he can handle the dirt. He has been in Riyadh since that last run and I went out there 10 days ago to see how he was. He is in good form and I was very happy with him,” added Thomas-Demeaulte.
