NAPIER: West Indies captain Jason Holder praised his team’s effort in the do-or-die clash against United Arab Emirates on Sunday and will next look to target the batting of likely World Cup quarterfinal opponents New Zealand in Wellington next week.

West Indies secured a spot in the knockout stage to finish fourth in Pool B following their six-wicket win over UAE in Napier.

“I couldn’t ask for anything more. It was a must-win and we had to win by a big margin,” Holder told reporters at McLean Park. “The way the guys came out and played cricket today I can’t say much more.”

West Indies had been facing elimination if they could not secure a large win on Sunday.

Holder and Jerome Taylor reduced UAE to 46 for six before Amjad Javed and Nasir Aziz combined for a 107-run partnership that gave their score some credibility.

The associate nation were eventually dismissed for 175 and Holder’s team romped to 176-4 in the 31st over, with Johnson Charles (55) and Jonathan Carter (50 not out) providing the bulk of the runs.

Charles’ form will put pressure on Dwayne Smith, who has scored just 93 runs in six innings, for the quarter-finals if Chris Gayle is fit enough to play after he pulled out of Sunday’s match with a back injury.

Holder expects him to play in Wellington next Saturday.

“He has had the same back problem he has had for a year and he has good days and bad days,” Holder said of Gayle’s injury.

“But he is a crucial player for us going into the quarter-final. He will be up for it, even if he is not 100 percent.

“He is a big game player and we all know what he can do on those days.

“Obviously Johnson played a very good innings and has probably pretty much secured his spot for the next game but we will sit down, see the conditions and pick the team.”

Holder was mindful they could still possibly face Australia in the quarter-finals but were expecting to face Brendon McCullum’s side.

“New Zealand has been playing some pretty decent cricket,” he added in noting McCullum’s side were unbeaten.

“They have done reasonably well up top with guys like (Martin) Guptill, McCullum and Kane Williamson, so obviously the quicker we get into their middle order, the better off for us.

“And when we bat we just need to counter the Southee-Boult opening combination.”

Skipper Jason Holder dismissed talk of a rift in the ranks Sunday. The mission seemed in the bag when Holder won the toss, put UAE into bat and rapidly reduced them to 46-6 before Nasir Aziz and Amjad Javed staged a 107-run stand.

Sammy was brought on to try to break the partnership with the score at 108-6 after 30 overs and was not happy when taken out of the attack after just one over that yielded four runs.

Sammy and Holder appeared have strong words which Holder later played down as “a little banter on the field” saying they wanted to have some fun but “unfortunately it probably didn’t look that way.”

He later conceded they “had a little tussle there. It’s just part of the game. At the end of the day we shake hands and still smile together.”

Sammy later posted a picture on Instagram of him enjoying a beer with Holder in the locker room although his conciliatory smile was in stark contrast to his captain’s stony-faced expression.


UAE innings:

Amjad Ali lbw Holder 5

A. Berenger c Ramdin b Holder 7

Krishna Chandran c Smith b Holder 0

Khurram Khan b Taylor 5

Shaiman Anwar b Taylor 2

S. Patil b Holder 6

A. Javed b Russell 56

N. Aziz c Holder b Samuels 60

M. Naveed b Russell 14

M. Tauqir b Taylor 2

M. Guruge not out 4

Extras: 14

Total: (47.4 overs) 175

Fall of wkts 1-13, 2-16, 3-17, 4-21, 5-26, 6-46, 7-153, 8-167, 9-167, 10-175.

Bowling: Taylor 8.4-0-36-3 (2w), Holder 10-1-27-4 (4w), Roach 8-0-54-0 (2w), Russell 8-3-20-2 (2w), Samuels 10-4-25-1, Sammy 1-0-4-0, Smith 2-0-5-0.

West Indies innings:

D. Smith c Patil b Guruge 15

J. Charles c Chandran b Amjad Javed 55

M. Samuels c Berenger b Guruge 9

J. Carter not out 50

A. Russell c & b Amjad Javed 7

D. Ramdin not out 33

Extras: 7

Total: (for 4 wkts, 30.3 overs) 176

Fall of wkts: 1-33, 2-53, 3-109, 4-118.

Bowling: Aziz 6-0-47-0, Naveed 6-0-34-0 (1w), Guruge 7.3-1-40-2, Tauqir 3-0-22-0, Javed 8-0-29-2 (2w).