Windies gets it done again
Hundreds from current Captain Shai Hope and past captain Nicholas Pooran set up West Indies for a convincing, 101-run win against Nepal in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers.
Hope cracked 132 and left-hander Pooran slammed 115. They shared a double 100, fourth wicket stand to help the Caribbean side reach 339 for 7 from their allocated 50 overs after a shaky start in their second Group A match at the Harare Sports Club in Zimbabwe.
Overhauling such a total was always beyond the capacity of the Nepalese, and though they got a top score of 63 from Aarif Sheikh, they were never going to stop West Indies from claiming their second win in a row and move ahead of hosts Zimbabwe on the net run rate at the top of the standings in the group.
Kyle Mayers formalised the result when he held a sharp return catch to send Karan Khatri Chhetri packing for 28 with two balls remaining in the Nepal chase.
Sent in to bat, the West Indies team was rocking 9 for 2 in the fifth over after Mayers was caught at mid wicket for one off Chhetri, and fellow pacer Gulshan Jha got Johnson Charles caught behind for a duck.
Opener Brandon King just started the repair effort with Hope before leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane bowled him for 32, and the Caribbean side stumbled to 55 for 3.
West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran came together with Hope in the 16th over and enjoyed good fortune in the next over when wicket-keeper Asif Sheikh dropped him on three off left-arm spinner Lalit Rajbanshi.
They both reached the milestone in the 40th over. Hope clipped the third ball of the over from Jha through square leg for two runs to complete his 15th ODI hundred before Pooran carved the last ball to the backward point boundary to arrive at his second ODI hundred, four years after scoring his first.
Pooran offered a return catch to off-spinner Dipendta Singh Airee with six overs remaining, and West Indies thrashed a further 68 from them for the loss of three wickets.
Rajbanshi claimed Hope and all-rounder Keemo Paul in the final over and ended with 3 for 52 from 10 overs, making him the most successful Nepal bowler.
Pacer Alzarri Joseph set back the Nepalese early when he bowled Kushal Bhurtel for five in the second over.
Holder pushed Nepal back further when he got Bhim Sharki caught behind for two in the fifth over, and they labored to 42 for two at the end of the Power Play.
West Indies fielded a bit raggedly, and Nepalese tried to rebuild with their Captain Rohit Paudel scoring 30 and Aasif Sheikh getting 28, but they were a few flashes of brilliance from substitute fielder Keacy Carty, and this stemmed any real momentum.
West Indies had Nepal on the back-foot on 114 for five at the halfway mark of the chase, but Aarif provided the most resistance and put on 68 for the seventh wicket with Jhathat brought respectability to the total.
