CP Rizwan praises ‘unplayable’ Junaid Siddique after UAE’s T20 warm-up loss to West Indies

CP Rizwan, the UAE captain, labelled Junaid Siddique’s bowling against West Indies “unplayable” as the seamer took five wickets in the T20 World Cup warm-up game.

The national team fell to a 17-run loss to the two-time former champions at the Junction Oval in St Kilda.

It was their first official warm-up match ahead of their first match at the main event, against the Netherlands in Geelong last week.

The UAE had already had three wins against club sides – two against Geelong and one against Essendon – after arriving in Australia at the start of this month.

The step up to face the world No 7-ranked West Indies was significant, though, and captain Rizwan said he was satisfied with many aspects of his side’s performance.

The difference in pitch conditions to what they had played on so far in Australia was also vast.

The wicket in St Kilda, which is a suburb of a Melbourne, offered far greater pace and bounce, and Siddique found it just to his liking.

Lots of positives out there today, but despite Waseem's solid 69* (52) & a 5-for from Siqqique our lads fall 17-runs short in today's @ICC @T20WorldCup #warmups Check out the scorecard