The West Indies secured a 101-run win over Nepal in their ICC World Cup Qualifying fixture at the Harare Sports Club in Zimbabwe on Thursday.
After being put in to bat, the Windies amassed 339-7 from their 50 overs thanks to classy hundreds from Captain, Shai Hope (132) and Nicholas Pooran (115).
They then restricted Nepal to 238 all out in 49.4 overs with Jason Holder (3-34) leading the way with the ball.
Pooran spoke about his knock in a post-match interview.
“It was one that the team needed. I’m happy that I was there to contribute and raise both hands at the end,” Pooran said about his knock which came off just 94 balls and included 10 fours and four sixes.
Pooran joined Hope, at the crease with the West Indian reeling at 55-3 in the 16th over and the pair then combined to put on an excellent 216-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Only Shivnarine Chanderpaul and current assistant coach, Carl Hooper, have had a higher fourth wicket partnership on ODIs for the West Indies. The pair put on 226 against South Africa in East London in 1999.
The partnership also put the pair tenth on the all-time fourth wicket partnerships list in ODIs.
Pooran also heaped praise on his Captain whose 132 came off 129 balls and included 10 fours and three sixes.
“For the last couple years, Shai has been that batsman in ODI cricket for us and we depend on him heavily. He knows that and everyone knows that and I’m happy that he’s there performing when we need him the most,” Pooran said.
The West Indies scored 339-7 despite only getting 33 runs from their top three. Pooran believes this shows the potential of this team with the bat.
“There’s a lot of potential on our team but, in saying that, we don’t have much time in this tournament. We need to put words into action and we need guys to put their hands up for the team. That’s the only way we’re going to move forward,” he said.
With this win, the West Indies join hosts, Zimbabwe, with two wins from as many games and the pair will do battle on Saturday.
“Saturday’s going to be important for both teams. We’re going to recover tomorrow, turn up on Saturday and hopefully we can play our best game and continue to move on in this tournament,” he said.
Pooran also reiterated the importance of these qualifiers for the West Indies.
“It’s very serious, not only to us, but to the people in the Caribbean. We need to qualify, there’s no doubt about it and we know that as players and we’re trying our best to put things in place,” he said.