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They didn’t have their coach or their legions of fans, but India still made light work of the United Arab Emirates in a crushing nine-wicket World Cup win at the WACA Ground.
Boos rang out when the UAE elected to bat after winning the toss, with fans realising the move would almost certainly make for a shortened game.
Their prediction rang true, with the UAE skittled for 102 inside 32 overs.
In reply, India cruised to 1-104 in 18.5 overs, with opener Rohit Sharma (57no) and Virat Kohli (33no) encountering few problems.
India’s coach Duncan Fletcher wasn’t on hand to see the clinical performance after he flew to South Africa to attend the funeral of his father in law.
But the 66-year-old will return for his team’s next fixture – against the West Indies in Perth on March 6.
A heaving crowd of 41,587 streamed into Adelaide Oval to watch India’s big win over Pakistan, before a pro-Indian crowd of 86,000 filed into the MCG to watch their team’s demolition of South Africa.
But only 8718 fans turned up to watch India demolish the UAE in Perth on Saturday.
However, it mattered little to India’s players, who were ruthless from the outset to ensure they retained top spot in Pool B with three straight wins.
Spinner Ravi Ashwin was the hero with 4-25 off 10 overs, while Ravindra Jadeja continued the spinathon with 2-23.
If it wasn’t for a 31-run last-wicket partnership between Shaiman Anwar (35 off 49 balls) and Manjula Guruge (10no), the damage would have been far worse for UAE.
Anwar cracked six boundaries to top score for his side and save them from total embarrassment.
It continued his hot run of form after he scored 106 against Ireland and 67 against Zimbabwe.
The UAE’s total was the 18th lowest in World Cup history.
Canada still holds the record – a team total of 36 against Sri Lanka in 2003.
Although the UAE were clearly outclassed, they did at least produce the highlight of the match – a one-handed catch above his head from Rohan Mustafa at point.
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