Toss: United Arab Emirates Choosing to bat vs West Indies
UAE won the toss and struck first to avoid a 3-0 sweep in the third ODI in Sharjah.
Athanas is the highest run-scorer in the 2018 U-19 World Cup ahead of Shubman Gill. But early in his domestic career he was abandoned by the Windward Islands. That snub spurred him to work even harder to become one of the mainstays of Windward Islands’ batting and the team’s captain. In the Super50 Cup, West Indies’ 50-over domestic tournament, Athanas was the Windward Islands’ top scorer with 292 runs in six innings at an average of 48.66 and a strike rate of 96.05, and the sixth highest overall.
All-rounders Dominic Drakes and Odion Smith gave way to Kevin Sinclair and Keemo Ball. Sinclair joins Kevin Hodge, Yannick Karia and stand-in captain Chase as West Indies’ fourth spin-bowling option.
Leg-spinner Karthik Meiyappan returned to the XI after leaking 55 runs in 4.2 overs in the series opener, while vice-captain Vrithiya Arvind took back the wicket-keeping gloves from Aryansh.
United Arab Emirates: 1 Muhammad Wasim (capt), 2 Lovepreet Singh, 3 Vrithya Aravind (weekly), 4 Rameez Shahjad, 5 Ethan D’Souza, 6 Rohan Mustafa, 7 Ali Naseer, 8 Ayan Afzal Khan, 9 Karthik Meiyappan, 10 Junaid Siddiqui, 10 Junaid Siddiqui, Jawadullah
West Indies: 1 Alik Athanas, 2 Johnson Charles (week), 3 Shamar Brooks, 4 Ramon Reiffer, 5 Keezy Cardy, 6 Gavem Hodge, 7 Roston Chase (capt), 8 Yannick Karia, 9 Kevin Sinclair, 10 Akeem Jordan, 11 Keemo Paul