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.

Player of the Match Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran scored centuries and Jason Holder took three wickets as the West Indies defeated Nepal by 101 runs in Harare on Thursday.

Having set the Nepalese a winning target of 340, West Indies bowlers, not helped by a several dropped catches, combined to restrict their opponents for 238 and achieve their second win from as many games in the ICC World Cup qualifiers.

Aarif Sheikh was the top scorer with 63 for the Nepalese team, who also got contributions of 42 from Gulsan Jha and 30 from Captain Rohit Paudel.

Jason Holder was the best of the bowlers with 3-43 from his 10 overs with Akeal Hosein 2-49 and Keemo Paul 2-63.

Nepal were fortunate not to have been dismissed for much less as the West Indies spilled several catches in the field.  Alzarri Joseph suffered the most with three catches dropped off his bowling as he finished with figures of 2-45.

Earlier, having been sent to bat, West Indies recovered from a poor start that saw them lose two wickets with only nine runs on the board to score 339-7.

Shai Hope scored 132, his 15th ODI century while Nicholas Pooran scored 115. The Caribbean men also got useful scores of 32 from Brandon King and Rovman Powell 29.

Lalit Rajbanshi was the best of the Nepalese bowlers with 3-52.

Hope said he was happy to have been able to overcome some early challenges and the loss of two early wickets to score an important 100 for his team.

“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. The key was absorbing as much pressure as possible and then find a way to transfer that pressure in the back end,” he said, revealing that Pooran’s arrival of the crease helped him turn things around.

“Pooran made it a lot easier for me. The aim was to take it as deep as possible give us the best chance towards the end. I don't think I hit the targets where I wanted to but happy to just bat as deep as I possibly could there. The team really needed me. They bowled well, must commend their bowlers, especially their spinners, they stuck to their task well.

“We batted well in that period to overcome their spin threat. There's obviously room for improvement, so we need to make sure we are ticking those boxes going into the next game.”

With the win the West Indies go top of Group A with four points from their two matches to date.

 

 

Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran each scored hundreds as West Indies recovered from another bad start to post 339-7 from their 50 overs in their ICC World Cup qualifier match against Nepal at Harare on Thursday.

Hope scored 132 and Pooran 115 as the West Indies recovered from 55-3 to post their highest score so far in search of their second win in the qualifiers.

After being sent in to bat, West Indies lost the wickets of Kyle Mayers and Johnson Charles for one and nought, respectively, with only nine runs on the board in the fifth over.

However, Hope and Brandon King stabilized the situation somewhat before King was bowled by Sandeep Lamicchane for 32 to have the West Indies in trouble on 55-3.

Hope and Pooran turned things around with a fourth-wicket partnership of 216 that put the West Indies in command. Hope got to his 50 in 73 balls and included five fours and a six as the West Indies wrested back control of proceedings.

Pooran, meanwhile, was more efficient, smashing three fours and a six in his 50 that came from just 51 balls.

As the pair exerted their dominance on Nepal’s bowlers, the 100 partnership came up in 94 balls. It took them 32 additional deliveries to bring up the 150-run partnership with Pooran being the dominant partner with 83 of those crucial runs. Hope’s contribution was 66 as the West Indies picked up momentum to push the scoring rate above six runs an over.

Hope got to his 15th ODI hundred from just 107 balls with Pooran’s second ODI ton coming off just 81 balls and included nine fours and four sixes.

The 200-run partnership was achieved in just 159 balls as the Caribbean men eyed a score of 350.

The partnership was broken in the 44th over when Pooran was dismissed, out caught and bowled by Dipendra Singh Airee for 115.

Rovman Powell added a quick-fire 29 from just 14 balls as the West Indies past 300 runs.

The West Indies lost two wickets in the 50th over bowled by Lalit Rajbanshi. Hope was caught by Bhim Sharki at long off for a magnificent 132 and Keemo Paul was bowled off the final ball of the innings leaving Jason Holder unbeaten on 16.

Rajbanshi was the best of the Nepalese bowlers with 3-52.

Australia made sure of their place in the third stage of Asia's 2022 World Cup qualifying format with a routine 3-0 victory over 10-man Nepal.

After resounding wins over hosts Kuwait and Chinese Taipai, boss Graham Arnold again rung the changes at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium but it made little difference to the outcome.

Mathew Leckie, captain for the night, gave the Socceroos an early advantage and Fran Karacic's maiden international goal had doubled the lead by the time Rohit Chand was sent off for a professional foul on Martin Boyle before half-time.

Boyle completed the scoring, with a seventh consecutive win to wrap up top spot in Group B long beyond doubt before then.

It took Leckie only six minutes to find the breakthrough, meeting left-back Aziz Behich's cross with a powerful header.

Karacic enjoyed a moment to savour in the 38th minute after Leckie skipped past a desperate lunge from Suman Aryal and picked out the Brescia right-back to slot home.

Leckie was involved again shortly afterwards as Nepal's evening took another sour turn, releasing Boyle to be unceremoniously brought down by Chand, who gave the referee little option.

Boyle looked set to experience personal disappointment when he botched a free header early in the second half before slicing into the side netting. But a sublime curling cross from Hibernian team-mate Jackson Irvine in the 57th minute allowed the 28-year-old to tap in from close range.

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