West Indies crush Nepal by 9 wickets to seal Super Eights spot

Skipper Shai Hope led the way with an unbeaten 61 with Shimron Hetmyer in tow with 46 not out as the West Indies registered a nine-wicket victory against an insipid Nepal, becoming the first team to qualify for the Super Eights stage of the T20 World Cup, on Sunday. After Jason Holder returned fine figures of 4/27 to restrict Nepal to a modest 133 for 8 on the back of Dipendra Singh Airee’s valiant 58 not out, West Indies cruised to 134 for 1 in 15.2 overs to win the match with 28 balls to spare in their Group C clash.

With three wins from as many matches, West Indies are at the top of the Group C and made it to the Super 8s. West Indies captain Hope bounced back to form with 61 not out from 44 balls, studded with five fours and three sixes. On the other hand, the in-form Hetmyer remained unbeaten on 46 (32 balls; 4 fours, 2 sixes) in another significant contribution. Airee’s first-innings heroics was the only bright spot for the Rhinos and their fans who once against filled up the Wankhede Stadium’s stands in large numbers, but returned disappointed with another massive defeat.

Brandon King (22) appeared to be hitting his strides when he smacked three fours off Sompal Kami in the fifth over of the chase but fell soon after, mis-hitting one to mid-on where Nandan Yadav had him caught by Kushal Bhurtel. But that was the only success that came Nepal’s way with the ball as once again their passionate crowd went silent as West Indies went about comfortably in the chase of a modest total.

Hope’s half-century included a delightful drive down the ground early on, whereas Hetmyer began with a couple of fours in the seventh over but was left stranded four runs short of what would have been his second fifty of this T20 World Cup. Together, they put on an unbeaten 91 runs for the second wicket. On their part, Nepal bowlers simply failed to apply any pressure as West Indies enjoyed another successful outing with the bat. Earlier, Airee (58) and Sompal Kami (26 not out) found a late surge to lift a struggling Nepal to 133 for 8.

Barring Airee, who struck three sixes and as many fours for his 47-ball 58, Nepal batters cut a sorry figure on a fresh Wankhede Stadium’s deck which did not assist spin much nor was two-paced. If not for Airee’s dogged knock and Kami’s late strikes, including three consecutive fours in the 18th over, Nepal would have finished at a far lesser total owing to an insipid show from their specialist batters earlier.

Unperturbed with ordinary cricket from others around him, Airee gave a fine display of application and aggression, punishing any loose delivery in his hitting arc while his running between the wickets was sharp. Nepal had slipped to 46 for 5 in the 11th over, failing to find any momentum whatsoever on a batting-friendly track, with poor shots and lack of application continuing to haunt them. The slide began for Nepal as early as the first over when

Kushal Bhurtel (1) was cleaned up by Akeal Hosein. Hosein’s arm ball kept angling into the big-hitting right-hander who was cramped for room, playing a totally wrong line. Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel (5) had only himself to blame when he missed connecting with a leg-side flick, with Matthew Forde’s ball that was angled in crashed into his pads. Paudel reviewed the on-field decision against him but the replays showed the ball would have grazed the leg-stump.

But perhaps the worst shot came from Nepal No. 5 Aarif Sheikh, who guided an outside leg-stump delivery from Jason Holder (4/27) straight to fine-leg, giving the former West Indies captain a first-ball wicket. From the other end, Forde continued to test Nepal batters outside the off stump but to his misfortune, he could not find an edge despite being persistent with his line and length.

At 22 for three after the end of the sixth over, Nepal had recorded the lowest powerplay score for this T20 World Cup. Forde did, however, bowl a wicket-maiden fourth over and took a fine catch at midwicket to dismiss Aarif Sheikh (2) off Holder with the sun in his eyes.               (PTI) Nepal’s hero in the clash against England, Lokesh Bam (13) fell cheaply again and Gulsan Jha (11) flopped as well. But a 54-run stand between Airee and Kami gave Nepal much-needed impetus, albeit late in the innings.