by Sam Sheringham, BBC Sport
West Indies secured a place in the World Cup quarter-finals with a comfortable, if unconvincing, victory over the United Arab Emirates.
The UAE crumbled to 26-5 in Napier as Windies captain Jason Holder took 4-27.
But Nasir Aziz and Amjad Javed exploited some ragged bowling to add a record-tying 107 for the seventh wicket and lift the associates to 175 all out.
Johnson Charles and Jonathan Carter struck fifties as the Windies eased home by six wickets in 30.3 overs.
In reaching their target inside 36.2 overs, West Indies went through on net run rate, although their passage was not confirmed until Pakistan beat Ireland by seven wickets in Sunday’s final Pool B contest in Adelaide.
West Indies’ performance did little to suggest they will be a match for Brendon McCullum’s unbeaten New Zealand side in Wellington on 21 March.
The inconsistency that has blighted their campaign was again in evidence as a wayward spell from Kemar Roach helped the UAE get back into the game after Holder and Jerome Taylor had blown away their top order with some high-class pace bowling.
There was also a show of dissent from former captain Darren Sammy when he reacted badly to being pulled from the attack after one over and earned himself a talking-to from Holder.
By that point, the UAE were in the midst of an impressive recovery in which Aziz and Javed equalled their own team’s record for the highest World Cup seventh-wicket stand, set against Ireland in Brisbane in February.
Aziz top-scored in his first one-day innings, while Javed reached 50 for the first time with seven fours and a huge six, when he planted Taylor into the stands over long-on.
Their partnership was finally ended in the 41st over and the Windies wrapped up the tail efficiently as Taylor dismissed captain Mohammad Tauqir for his third wicket of the day.
With Chris Gayle sidelined by a back injury, Charles was handed an opportunity at the top of the West Indies order, and he kick-started the run chase with a four and a six in the first over on his way to a 34-ball half-century.
Although Dwayne Smith and Marlon Samuels once again posted low scores, and the experiment of moving Andrew Russell up the order did not pay off, Carter found some fluency to guide them home with his maiden ODI fifty.
West Indies captain Jason Holder: “The ball came out really well for me at the start. The pitch was a bit slow but it swung and bounced a bit for me.
“I’m extremely pleased with the way the guys came out and played. We needed to win by a certain margin. We had to show positive intent. We knew we had to finish the game inside 36 overs and we did it.
“New Zealand would be a big test. They are playing some very good cricket.”
UAE captain Mohammad Tauqir: “When West Indies put us in to bat first, they took good advantage of the bowling conditions.
“At 46-6 it was difficult to recover but it was a good effort by Amjad Javed and Nasir Aziz. Amjad been very consistent throughout the tournament and has been a positive for us.
“It was a decent performance for us in this tournament, a good learning experience and it has been very enjoyable.”
