The two-time T20 World Cup champions West Indies continued their unbeaten run in the ongoing edition. West Indies registered a dominant nine-wicket win with 28 balls to spare at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, to knock Nepal out of the Super 8 stage race. After Jason Holder's four-wicket haul, Shai Hope’s unbeaten half-century and Shimron Hetmyer's 46-run knock turned it into a one-sided affair.
Poor powerplay score
West Indies skipper Shai Hope won the toss and opted to bowl first. Akeal Hosein struck early, knocking over Kushal Bhurtel in the first over. Matthew Forde dismissed Rohit Paudel for a single-digit score. Then, Holder got into the act and sent Aasif Sheikh packing for a 10-ball 11. After powerplay overs, Nepal had just 22 runs on the board.
Holder continued to strike and got the wicket of Aarif Sheikh in the seventh over. Forde finished his spell conceding just 10 runs from four overs. Dipendra Singh Airee went into a shell while Shamar Joseph got the wicket of Lokesh Bam as Nepal lost half the side for 46 in the 11th over.
Airee hits fifty
In the 12th over, Airee hit the first six of the innings. Roston Chase joined the party by knocking over Gulsan Jha. In the slog overs, Airee and Sompal Kami accelerated. In the 18th over, Kami hit Holder for a hat-trick of fours to take the score past 100. In the penultimate over, Airee hit Joseph for two sixes. He reached his fifty from 44 deliveries. In the final over, Holder struck twice. Airee departed for a 47-ball 58, helping Nepal post a respectable total of 133/8.
Hope, Hetmyer take West Indies to Super 8s
Brandon King started the run chase with a boundary off Karan KC. West Indies openers did not go for an all out attack but used the powerplay overs well as per the situation of the game. In the sixth over, Nandan Yadav dismissed King for a 17-ball 22. West Indies were 44/1 after powerplay overs.
Hetmyer's attack ruled out any possibility of Nepal making a comeback. In the 12th over, West Indies got to the 100-run mark. The Nepal bowlers were no match for Hetmyer and Hope as they dominated the proceedings keeping the associate nation's supporters quiet in the stadium. In the 15th over, Hope hit Sandeep Lamichhane for a six to reach his fifty from 38 balls. He hit another six in the over. On the second ball of the 16th over, West Indies finished the run chase, qualifying for the Super 8 stage. Hope remained unbeaten for 61 off 44 balls, featuring five fours and three sixes. On the other end, Hetmyer scored 46 runs from 32 balls.