Mohammed, Fareed shine, but West Indies go down to New Zealand

West Indies O-50s v New Zealand O-50s

Spin twins Fareed Hosein and Azad Mohammed engineered a batting meltdown then threatened with the bat, but could not deliver the knock-out punch as West Indies Over-50s lost to New Zealand Over-50s by 36 runs in their Over-50s Cricket World Cup opener at Rondebosch, South Africa on Wednesday.

The Caribbean side opted to bowl on a green track with bounce and carry, but were doubting themselves when New Zealand raced to 124 for 2 in quick time. However, off-spinner Mohammed (3-25) and leggie Hosein (3-46) combined for figures of 18-1-71-6 to bowl out the opposition for 186 in 44 overs.

Captain of New Zealand and later Player-of-the-Match, Adrian Dale stroked a commanding 56 from 61 balls, batting at number three after openers Richard Petrie and Andrew Hore (17) put on 34. After hitting three boundaries, Hore was first to go when he miscued a pull to deep mid-wicket and was caught by Ishwar Maraj off the consistent right-arm seamer Kenny Girdharry (1-23).

Petrie, who played 12 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for New Zealand, was in a destructive mood hitting 34 from 32 balls (6×4; 1×6) while taking a liking to everything loose from new ball bowlers Girdharry and Allison Johnson (1/31). However, after adding 29 with his captain, Petrie played down the wrong line and was comprehensively bowled by WI O-50s Captain Amin Zamin (1-33) at 63-2.
John Garry then joined his captain to put on 61 for the third wicket before a mix-up that resulted in a run-out which brought on the great collapse. Garry went for 34 from 61 balls (1×4) and was quickly followed by Hosein’s first victim, Mason Robinson for 5 at 146-4. Dale, who hit six fours, then holed out to Krish Harricharan at deep mid-wicket to give Hosein his second wicket which brought the Caribbean side back into the contest.
Mohammed then got into the act and also picked up wickets at regular intervals which saw the last seven New Zealand wickets falling for 40 runs with no other batsman getting into double figures. At the half-way stage of the round-one match, West Indies Over-50s were strong favourites to win their debut match in the Over-50s Cricket World Cup, but New Zealand were prepared to fight.
In the run chase, WI O-50s lost their first four batsmen to lbw decisions and were pegged back at 46-4, which proved to be the point of no return before Mohammed and Hosein momentarily threatened. Right-hander Mohammed, batting at number 5, hit the top score of 35 (60 balls; 5×4) while Hosein, the south paw, made 24 (50 balls; 1×4) batting at number 7. Opener Ishwar Maraj made 25 and number 10 Mark Audain, 18 not out; they were the only other batsmen to reach double figures as WI O-50s were bowled out for 150 in 42.5 overs.
The Kiwis bowling was led by right-arm seamer Neil Ronaldson with 4-18, and left-arm spinners Andrew Nuttall (2-14) and Glen White (2-33) supported admirably.
WI next take on defending champions Australia while New Zealand meet Canada in round two matches on Friday. The other match of the group will bring together Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
In group B, India take on Pakistan; South Africa battle England and Wales meet Namibia. (John Ramsingh)

West Indies O-50s Itinerary at Over-50s Cricket World Cup 2020
Wednesday, March 11 lost to New Zealand by 36 runs
Friday, March 13 v Australia
Sunday, March 15 v Canada
Monday, March 16 v Zimbabwe
Wednesday, March 18 v Sri Lanka
Friday, March 20 Semi-final
Tuesday, March 24 Final