Nepal topple West Indies for their first-ever win against a Full Member

Nepal created history as they beat West Indies by 19 runs in Sharjah for their first-ever win against a Full Member across formats. They had beaten Afghanistan in a T20I in 2014, but Afghanistan were an Associate back then.

Even if you keep the win aside for a moment, it was a historic occasion for Nepal: their first T20I against West Indies and the start of their first bilateral series against a Full Member.

They made it even more special by outplaying the two-time world champions in every facet of the game. It was a complete team effort by Nepal. Six of their batters hit at least one six, six of their bowlers took at least one wicket, and they were by far the better side in the field.

Leading a second-string West Indies side that featured four debutants, Akeal Hosein opted to field after winning the toss. Nepal did not start well and both their openers were back in the pavilion by 3.1 overs. Kushal Bhurtel was beaten by an arm ball from Hosein and was stumped. Aasif Sheikh stepped out to Jason Holder but miscued the lofted shot and was caught by a backpedalling mid-on.

Until the final over of the powerplay, Nepal had hit just two boundaries.

Their captain Rohit Paudel doubled that count with back-to-back fours off debutant Ramon Simmonds in the sixth over, but it was Kushal Malla who provided the real momentum. He first smashed Fabian Allen to the long-on boundary for a four and then, in the spinner’s next over, deposited one into the stands for the first six of the innings.

Malla hit another six, off Obed McCoy this time, to take Nepal to 68 for 2 at the end of ten overs. He and Paudel added 58 off 45 balls before both holed out against debutant legspinner Navin Bidaisee. Gulsan Jha and Dipendra Singh Airee tried to keep the momentum going, but Bidaisee struck again, getting rid of Jha to finish with 3 for 29 from his four overs.

Then, in the 19th over, Holder picked up three wickets. But thanks to West Indies’ catching that oscillated from jaw-dropping grabs to face-palming drops, Nepal had a fighting 148 for 8 on the board.

Kyle Mayers kicked off the chase with a first-ball four. But it all went downhill for West Indies from there. It started with Bhurtel’s direct hit to run Mayers out in the second over of the chase. Ackeem Auguste, another debutant, hit two delightful sixes but he too fell inside the powerplay.

Still, West Indies were placed fairly well at 40 for 2 after six overs. But after that, the Nepal spinners spun a web from which the West Indies batters could not come out. Paudel and Lalit Rajbanshi gave away only 16 in the next four overs while picking up a wicket each.

With West Indies needing 93 from the last ten overs on a pitch where the shot-making was not easy, Nepal were the favourites. Three overs later, Dipendra Singh Airee’s brilliance in the field sent back Keacy Carty. Carty had set off for a non-existent single after pushing the ball towards covers. His partner sent him back but he could not beat Airee’s bullet through to the wicketkeeper.

After that, West Indies depended heavily on Holder but he could manage only 5 before holing out to deep midwicket off Bhurtel. Bidaisee, Fabian Allen and Hosein tried to keep the fight on with their big hits but they could not keep up with the asking rate. West Indies needed 70 from the last five overs, and 49 from the last three.

In the 18th over, the otherwise flawless Nepal fielders dropped Hosein twice in two balls. The first one went for a four and the second for a six. But Karan KC removed the West Indies captain in the following over, leaving Allen to score 28 from the final. He could not pull that off. (ESPNcricinfo)