West Indies A bagged a thrilling ten-run win against Nepal in the second game of the series. With a thrilling win for the chasing side, the series is levelled 1-1. Chasing the target of 161, Nepal managed to post 150/9 after 20 overs, losing by just 10 runs.
Nepal were in trouble early on. They lost four wickets early on for just 28 runs after the completion of the powerplay. Lokesh Bam (17), Kushal Bhurtel (2), Anil Sah (1) and Kushal Malla (0) were the batters to be dismissed. Gulshan Jha smacked 23 runs in the first over after the powerplay to bring back Nepal in the contest.
Jha walked back for 11-ball 26 in the ninth over. Rohit Paudel kept going despite the continuous fall of a wicket at the other end. Aarif (12), Dipendra Singh Airee (3) and Sompal Kami (3) were unable to do any special as Nepal needed to rely fully on Rohit Paudel.
Seventeen runs were required from the last over after scoring nine runs from the penultimate over. Nepal could only add six runs losing one wicket from Matthew Forde’s last over, falling short by 10 runs. Captain Rohit Paudel remained unbeaten till the end but was unable to bag a win. He remained unbeaten for 48-ball 71 with the help of six fours and two sixes.
For West Indies A, Gudakesh Motie and Obed McCoy picked up two wickets each. Oshane Thomas and Roston Chase also grabbed one wicket each.
Earlier in the first inning, West Indies A posted 160/7 in the allotted 20 overs. Forced to bowl first after losing the toss, Nepal did great in bowling. However, West Indies reached that score after a late firework, collecting 41 runs from the last two overs.
Sagar Dhakal yielded a brilliant start for Nepal taking a couple of wickets in his first over. He dismissed Alick (6) Athanaze and Johnson Charles (11) in the third over. Andre Fletcher and Roston Chase then added 46 runs for the third wicket before Kushal Bhurtel got rid of Chase for 23 runs. Keacy Karty was also dismissed by Kushal Bhurtel in the 14th over as they were 79/4.
Keemo Paul too was unable to do any special as he was knocked out by Sompal Kami. The visiting side were in more trouble when they lost Hayden Walsh and Andre Fletcher. Walsh fell short in Rohit Paudel’s electrifying throw whereas Fletcher top-scored with 36-ball 43 and was dismissed by DS Airee.
Windies A finished an innings on a high note with a late firework. They added 19 runs from Aakash Chand’s penultimate over and then 22 from DS Airee’s last over. Gudakesh Motie hammered 8-ball 31 with four biggies whereas Matthew Forde scored 11 from six balls.
For Nepal, Sagar Dhakal and Kushal Bhurtel were the top bowlers. Both picked up two wickets each and ended with a figure of 4-0-19-2 and 4-0-22-2 respectively. DS Airee and Sompal Kami also grabbed one wicket each.
