“For me, it has been really good,” Athanaze said. “Basically, what we spoke about was judging lengths and trying to get ahead of the bowler. It worked really nicely, and I got myself into some good positions and it was really good to bat out there tonight.”
Athanaze put left-arm fingerspinner Aayan Afzal Khan out of the attack in the powerplay with a brace of sixes. Then when UAE’s seamers bowled into the Sharjah pitch, Athanaze countered them with a variety of pulls, including the short-arm jab.
“For me, I’ve always known Alick since Under-19 [cricket],” Sinclair said. “He’s a good player and a good batsman. To watch himself express himself tonight at a higher level is something really good to see from the sidelines. I always knew he could bat and he did bring form from Bangladesh and he did very well.”
Athanaze also spoke of how the new team management, under the leadership of Daren Sammy and Shai Hope, has encouraged the youngsters to play with confidence and freedom.
“The team did really, really well,” Athanaze said. “One thing the captain stresses about is always improving and as you saw right throughout the series, we improved – not just on the batting but fielding as well and bowling. As a young player, it’s always good to be in a winning team and it gives you the confidence to go out and express yourself.”
Sinclair dedicates Player-of-the-Match award to his grandfather
Friday’s match was a special one for Sinclair, too, who marked his international return with figures of 4 for 24. Carlos Brathwaite, who was on TV commentary, noted that Sinclair is now getting his offbreak to grip and turn more than he did in the past. This has in turn made his slider more effective and put him in West Indies or West Indies A contention across formats.
“We were in a bit of a bother, so my thing was just to keep it simple and keep it as tight as possible,” Sinclair said. “Hence, getting a breakthrough as well, and that was really good for myself.”
“As I mentioned I couple of weeks ago, Esuan Crandon,” Sinclair said. “The support he has given me and every time I step out [onto the field], I try and do what I can do with the bat, ball and in the field as well.
“It’s all about consistency and I just want to take that moving forward and try to be consistent in what I do.”
After winning the Player-of-the-Match award, Sinclair dedicated it to his grandfather Carlton, who was employed as a security guard. Carlton has doubled up as Sinclair’s mentor over the years.
“Just want to mention that two days ago was my grandfather’s birthday,” Sinclair said. “It was his 75th birthday. He has been behind me since my tender age of seven, so I want to say this performance is for him.”
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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