In an astonishing victory, the West Indies usurped host nation Zimbabwe at the apex of Group A following a 101-run triumph over Nepal in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier clash at Harare Sports Club on Thursday.
With both teams accruing four points after emerging victorious in their first two matches, the Caribbean side’s superior net run rate of 1.400, outstripping Zimbabwe’s 1.126, propelled them to the pinnacle.
Zimbabwe beat Nepal by eight wickets before accounting for Netherlands by six wickets in their matches played at Harare Sports. On the other hand, West Indies opened the account with a routine 39-run win over Netherlands at Takashinga Cricket Club in Highfield, Harare.
A change of venue did not trouble them in any way as they powered to 339/7 against Nepal, thanks to the two centurions, Shai Hope with 132 from 129 balls and Nicholas Pooran’s 94-ball 115.
They were scary moments at the start of their innings as West Indies slip to 2/9 after four overs losing Kyle Mayers for one and Johnson Charles for a duck. It was three wickets down after 15.3 overs when Brandon King was bowled by Sandeep Lamichhane for 32, but Hope and Pooran rebuilt the innings, putting up a composed 216-run partnership for the fourth wicket, the match’s turning point.
Nepal’s spirited fight saw Aarif Sheikh scoring a half-century, 63 from 93 balls Gulsan Jha fell eight runs shy of 50 as they closed on 238 all out in 49.4 overs.
Hope, the man of the match, looked back at his partnership with Pooran with relief as it architected the team’s greatest escape.
“I believe the rhythm was a bit off. I am just happy that I came good for the team. We were put on the backfoot there…happy to get the team over the line today,” he said.
“The key was absorbing as much pressure as possible and finding a way to transfer that pressure in the back end. Pooran made it a lot easier for me. The aim was to take it as deep as possible.”
Nepal captain Rohit Paudel said dropped catches contributed to his team’s downfall.
“I think in early stages, we bowled well but dropped a few catches…we could have done better in the field. Usually, we field well, but today we missed a few opportunities,” said Paudel. “Later, Pooran and Hope batted really well, so credit them also. We could have done better by using the pace.”
Zimbabwe and West Indies lock horns at Harare Sports Club in a top-of-the-table clash on Saturday.
