Skipper Shai Hope (132 off 129) and Nicholas Pooran (115 off 94) smashed hundreds as West Indies beat Nepal by 101 runs in the ninth game of the ICC World Cup 2023 Qualifiers at Harare Sports Club on Thursday (June 22).
Nepal won the toss and opted to bowl first in the Group A clash. They got off to an impressive start, as Karan KC and Gulsan Jha dismissed Kyle Mayers (1) and Johnson Charles (0) respectively. West Indies slipped to 55-3 when Brandon King (32) chopped a delivery from Sandeep Lamichhane back onto his stumps.
Hope and Pooran then lifted the Windies, adding 216 runs for the fourth wicket. While Hope smashed ten fours and three sixes, Pooran hammered ten fours and four sixes. The impressive stand ended when Pooran was caught and bowled by Dipendra Singh as West Indies ended up with an imposing total of 339-7.
“I still believe that my rhythm was a bit off to be fair and in that situation I’m happy that I came up trumps for the team,” Hope said after collecting the Player-of-the-Match award. “The key [to the partnership with Pooran] was to absorb as much pressure as possible and find a way to transfer that pressure on the back end. Pooran actually made it easier for me. I don’t think I hit my targets the way I wanted to, but I’m just happy to bat as deep as possible. The team really needed me and I’m happy to come up trumps for the team. Oh! I’m happy, anytime he [Pooran] is scoring runs we do well.”
“The aim is to get the best out of everyone in the team,” Hope had said on the eve of the game. The first is to understand our game a lot more and getting there is a process. It’s definitely not going to happen overnight, but the aim is to do whatever I can do for the team. But for our batters to understand their worth and have that self-belief in themselves to know: ‘okay, I can get the job done for West Indies’ and the more they can do that, I can see more consistent performances and hopefully it starts from tomorrow.”
Nepal were then bundled out for 238 in 49.4 overs as West Indies registered a thumping win in the World Cup 2023 Qualifiers clash. Aarif Sheikh top-scored for Nepal with 63, but no other batter crossed the half-century mark.
For West Indies, Jason Holder registered figures of 3-34, while Alzarri Joseph, Keemo Paul and Akeal Hosein picked up two wickets apiece.