Historic 19-run win for Nepal against WI
West Indies were defeated once again, this time against minnows Nepal, by a humiliating 19-runs in their opening T201 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium to propel them to a 1-0 lead in the three-match Unity Cup series.
Jason Holder and Navin Bidaisee shared seven wickets between them to limit Nepal to 148 for 8 from 20 overs, after being sent in to bat.
In their run chase, Bidaisee was the only batter to score more than 20, as the Windies were restricted to 129 for nine in their 20 overs to give Nepal their first-ever win against an International Cricket Council full member.
Captain and Player-of-the-Match, Rohit Paudel said the victory was not only historic, but also welcomed, as it capped off a difficult few weeks for the people of Nepal.
“I think it feels great, especially after a long wait to beat a Test-playing country. It finally came in a historic series where we hosted it in the UAE.”
“… I want to dedicate this Man of the Match award to the martyrs who lost their lives in the Gen-Z protest in Nepal. The last month has not been great for us, so if we can give a little bit of happiness to the people of Nepal, I think that would be great,” Paudel said in a post-match interview.
Again, the West Indies’ top order batsmen failed to deliver. Opener Kyle Mayers drove the first ball of the innings from pacer Dipendra Singh Airee for four, but after added just one more run before he was run out by a direct throw from Kushal Bhurtel.
Debutant Ackeem Auguste, scored 15 off seven balls in his brief knock, and together with Amir Jangoo carried the score to 32 for 1 in the fifth over.
But Auguste was caught off Nandan Yadav, triggering a collapse that saw them lose five wickets for just 44 runs.
Paudel had Jewel Andrew caught for five, Jangoo was caught by Lalit Rajbanshi for 19, Keacy Carty was run out for 16 and Holder made just five before being dismissed by Bhurtel to see the Windies slump to 76 for 6 in the 15th over.
Bidaisee top scored with 22, Fabian Allen made 19 and captain Akeal Hosein hit 18 from nine balls as they tried their best to revive the innings but could not keep up and eventually fell short of their target.
Earlier, Holder grabbed four wickets while Bidaisee bagged three, as West Indies did well to contain Nepal.
Nepal also found themselves in trouble early following the loss of openers Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh that saw them slip to 12 for 2, but Paudel, who topscored with 38 and Kushal Malla, who made 30, joined forces in a 58-run partnership for the third wicket to rescue their side.
Bidaisee then removed both batsmen in quick succession to leave Nepal 89 for 4 in the 13th over. Gulshan Jha contributed with 22 and Singh Airee made 17 to help get them up to their eventual total.
Holder finished with figures of 4-20 from his four overs, while Bidaisee took 3-29.
