MELBOURNE, Australia (CMC) — West Indies brushed aside minnows United Arab Emirates by 17 runs in their first official warm-up match, but concerns remained ahead of the Caribbean side’s Twenty20 World Cup campaign.

Brandon King’s 64 off 45 balls allowed West Indies to post 152 for nine from their 20 overs after they were sent in, Captain Nicholas Pooran lashing 46 off 31 deliveries in support.

West Indies recovered from a difficult position of 22 for three in the fifth over to reach 117 without further loss before 29-year-old seamer Junaid Siddique snatched five for 13 from his four-over spell to scythe through the middle and lower order.

In reply, UAE were reduced to 82 for six in the 16th over before Muhammad Waseem stroked an unbeaten 69 off 52 deliveries and Zawar Farid, a 14-ball unbeaten to provide a scare for the former World champions.

Left-arm seamer Raymon Reifer picked up three for 17 from his four overs to shine for West Indies.

Coming off two successive defeats to reigning world champions Australia, West Indies found themselves wobbling early when openers Evin Lewis (2) and Johnson Charles (1) fell in consecutive overs and late call-up Shamarh Brooks followed in the fifth over for four.

King, arriving at number three, counted seven fours and two sixes while the left-handed Pooran struck five sixes, the pair rallying the innings in a 95-run, fourth-wicket stand.

Once Pooran was bowled by pacer Zahoor Khan (2-24) in the 15th over, West Indies lost six wickets for 28 runs in quick time.

UAE lost an early wicket in their run chase but Waseem helped them recover by anchoring a second-wicket stand of 31 with Vriitya Aravind (9).

Reifer intervened, striking twice in the ninth over to trigger a slide that saw five wickets tumble for 32 runs, before Waseem, who lashed four fours and three sixes, partnered with Zawar in a 53-run unbroken seventh-wicket partnership to provide UAE with a strong finish.

Scoreboard

WEST INDIES

J Charles b Junaid Siddique 1

E Lewis c Basil Hameed b Kashif Daud 2

B King c Aayan Afzal Khan b Junaid Siddique 64

S Brooks c wkp Aravind b Zahoor Khan 4

*+N Pooran b Zahoor Khan 46

R Reifer c Basil Hameed b Junaid Siddique 1

O Smith b Junaid Siddique 5

A Hosein c wkp Aravind b Junaid Siddique 0

Y Cariah ret. hurt 0

O McCoy not out 4

A Joseph b Zawar Farid 15

R Powell not out 7

Extras (w3) 3

TOTAL (9 wkts, 20 overs) 152

Did not bat: S Cottrell, J Holder, A Joseph, K Mayers

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-10, 3-22, 4-117, 5-121, 6-122, 7-122, 8-129, 9-145

Bowling: Junaid Siddique 4-0-13-5, Kashif Daud 2-0-11-1, Zahoor Khan 4-0-24-

2, Basil Hameed 1-0-8-0, Aayan Afzal Khan 3-0-32-0, Karthik Meiyappan 2-0-

25-0, Ahmed Raza 1-0-9-0, Zawar Farid 3-0-30-1.

UAE

Chirag Suri c Smith b McCoy 9

Muhammad Waseem not out 69

+Vriitya Aravind c Smith b Reifer 9

*Chundangapoyil Rizwan c King b Reifer 1

Aayan Afzal Khan run out 0

Basil Hameed c Smith b Reifer 5

Kashif Daud c Powell b Smith 7

Zawar Farid not out 29

Extras (b1, lb1, w4) 6

TOTAL (6 wkts, 20 overs) 135

Did not bat: Karthik Meiyappan, Ahmed Raza, Aryan Lakra, Alishan Sharafu,

Junaid Siddique, Sabir Ali, Zahoor Khan

Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-50, 3-52, 4-53, 5-66, 6-82

Bowling: Cottrell 4-0-34-0, Hosein 4-0-13-0, McCoy 4-0-49-1, Reifer 4-0-17-3,

Smith 4-0-20-1

Result: West Indies won by 17 runs.

Toss: UAE.

Umpires: Aleem Dar, Marais Erasmus