Nepal captain sets up historic win against Windies ‘A’
KIRTIPUR, Nepal (CMC) — An energetic 74 from their Captain Roston Chase was trumped by a dynamic hundred from opposing skipper Rohit Paudel, and West Indies “A” endured a four-wicket defeat against hosts Nepal in the first Twenty20 match of their series on Saturday.
Chase cracked nine fours and two sixes from 46 balls and was the cornerstone upon for the Caribbean side’s total of 204 for five from their allocation of 20 overs at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground.
But the visitors had no answer for Paudel, whose 112 off 54 balls that included 10 fours and six sixes, led a successful chase for the Nepalese on a flat pitch and enabled them to reach their target with two balls remaining and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
The new-ball pair of Matthew Forde and left-arm pacer Obed McCoy accounted for the Nepal openers Anil Sah caught at mid-wicket for five and Kushal Bhurtel caught behind for 16 respectively, and the home team stumbled to 43 for two at the close of the Power Play.
A throw from Johnson Charles at square leg to wicketkeeper Andre Fletcher to run out Kushal Malla for 16 meant that the Nepalease were 82 for three at the halfway stage, and the balance was firmly tilted in favour of West Indies “A”.
But the Caribbean side came under the hammer from the fearless Paudel, and he dominated a stand of 64 for the fourth wicket with Dipendra Singh Airee that transformed the complexion of the match and reached his landmark from 47 balls with a deuce through square leg off McCoy in the 18th over.
When Forde got the 21-year-old Nepal captain caught behind, his side needed 13 from 11 balls, and Pratis Gharti Chhetri entered and drove the next ball to long-off for a boundary to put the hosts within reach of the historic win.
Chunky pacer Oshane Thomas was entrusted with the final over with the Nepalese requiring nine to win, but he conceded back-to-back boundaries to Gulshan Jha after only giving away singles off the first two balls to seal the fate of the visitors.
The second match of the series is to be played on Sunday at the same venue.
The tour to Nepal is a first for any West Indies side, and according to lead selector Desmond Haynes serves as another phase in preparation for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to be staged in June in the Caribbean and the United States.
He added it is an invaluable opportunity to get World Cup hopefuls and emerging prospects playing competitive T20 matches.
