Athanaze, somersaulting Sinclair help West Indies to 3-0 UAE sweep

Agency :
Alick Athanaze hit the joint-fastest half-century on a ODI debut and off-spinner Kevin Sinclair marked his return with a four-wicket haul and a series of flamboyant somersaults as West Indies defeated the United Arab Emirates by four wickets to complete a 3-0 sweep in Sharjah on Friday. West Indies overhauled their target of 185 with four wickets and nearly 15 overs to spare.
Both Athanaze, 24, and 23-year-old Sinclair are not part of West Indies’ squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe.
On Friday, opener Athanaze got off to a flying start, racing to 30 off 11 balls.
He then equalled Krunal Pandya’s record for the joint-fastest fifty on ODI debut with a drilled four off Rohan Mustafa. Athanaze looked good for a century, but Aayan Khan cut his innings short on 65 off 45 balls.
In the absence of regular captain Shai Hope and vice-captain Brandon King, who were rested among a number of changes, West Indies went 81 balls without a boundary. Stand-in captain Roston Chase (27) closed out the chase along with Keemo Paul. The start had been promising for UAE after they opted to take the first strike. West Indies’ Alick Athanaze (R) celebrates his half-century (50 runs) during the third one-day international (ODI) against UAE in Sharjah Vriitya Aravind (70) and captain Muhammad Waseem (42) forged a 69-run partnership for the second wicket off just 55 balls.