Windies ‘A’ loses final match, wins T20 series 3-2

West Indies “A” had to settle for a 3-2 win in their five-match Twenty20 series against Nepal after the hosts clinched a six-wicket win in the final match at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground.

Left-arm pacer Obed McCoy ended with three for 36 from 3.5 overs for the Caribbean side. Anil Sah and Aasif Sheikh hit half-centuries to lead a successful chase of 173 for the Nepalese, with Sah hitting four fours and four sixes to top score with 58 off 45 balls. Sheikh supported with 51 off 35 balls that included two fours and five sixes to set the foundation for the run chase. But McCoy got them both.

Nepal entered the final five overs requiring 52 from 30 balls when leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr conceded 16 from the 16th over, including two sixes to Sah.

McCoy got Sah in the next over and conceded only five but pacer Matthew Forde gave away nine in the 18th over, including a six to Kushal Malla.

McCoy was entrusted with the penultimate over with 22 required, and Malla clobbering him for a six and a four, then successive fours either side of four leg-byes to end on 37 not out to take the Nepalese over the line with seven balls remaining.

Earlier, consistent batting led by 42 from left-hander Alick Athanaze, had enabled West Indies “A” to reach a respectable 172 for seven after they decided to bat.

Captain Roston Chase made 33, teammate Johnson Charles got 24, and Forde, contributed with 23.

The Nepal bowlers, led by T20I World Cup-bound pair of pacer Sompal Kami with three for 16 from his allotted four overs, and left-arm spinner Sagar Dhakal with three for 17 two overs thrived.

The Tour of Nepal was a first for any West Indies side, and served as another phase in preparation for the T20I World Cup to be staged next month in the Caribbean and the United States according to lead selector Desmond Haynes.

He said it was an invaluable opportunity before the World Cup to get hopefuls not involved in the Indian Premier League and emerging prospects playing competitive T20 matches against the Nepalese, one of the ICC Associate teams that qualified as one of the 20 teams that will feature in the global showpiece.