Ashwin leaves UAE in a spin at Perth

kathmandu, Feb 28: Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed four wickets to lead a strong Indian bowling performance as the defending champions dismissed the United Arab Emirates for 102 in their World Cup Pool B match in Perth on Saturday.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and fast bowler Umesh Yadav chipped in with two wickets apiece as the Emiratis were bundled out in 31.3 overs at the WACA to post the lowest score of this year’s tournament.

UAE captain Mohammad Tauqir would never have envisioned such a shambolic batting display from his team mates when he won the toss and opted to bat first.

However, the extra bounce on a pitch widely considered as the fastest in the world, put them on the backfoot from the onset of their innings.

Yadav bowled short and fast and struck in his first over, the second of the innings, to remove opener Andri Berenger (four) with a bouncer.

Fellow opener Amjad Ali (four) did not last much longer, edging a bouncer from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a replacement for the injured Mohammed Shami, to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps.

Skipper Dhoni brought Ashwin (4-25) on as his first change immediately after the mandatory 10-over powerplay to start the innings and the tall spinner picked up a wicket with his second ball and then ran through the UAE middle order.

Shaiman Anwar, who scored an aggressive century during their two-wicket loss to Ireland, was the only batsman to provide some resistance and finished with 35 from 49 balls, his innings including six boundaries.

Anwar and number 11 batsman Manjula Guruge (10 not out) added 31 for the final wicket, the highest of the innings, to get UAE past the 100-run mark.

The 35-year-old Anwar was the last man to fall, bowled by a late-swinging full delivery from Yadav.

REUTERS