Nepal does the UNTHINKABLE vs West Indies

The Nepal National Cricket Team lit up Sharjah with a historic night that their fans will remember for years. Taking on the West Indies for the very first time in a T20I, and in their first-ever bilateral series against a Full Member nation, Nepal stunned the two-time world champions to script history.

With their thrilling 19-run victory over the West Indies, Nepal recorded its first-ever win against a Full Member across formats. West Indies’ stand-in skipper Akeal Hosein won the toss and opted to bowl first, and Nepal had a poor start at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Nepal crushes West Indies by 19 runs in the first-ever T20I

Both openers, Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh, were back in the pavilion within the first 3.1 overs. Bhurtel was stumped after misreading Hosein’s arm ball for just 6 runs off 11 balls, while Sheikh mistimed a lofted shot off Jason Holder and was caught at mid-on for 2 runs.

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By the end of the power play, Nepal had managed just two boundaries, and it looked like they were heading towards a modest total. And that was when Captain Rohit Paudel (38 runs off 35 balls) and the hard-hitting Kushal Malla (30 runs off 21 balls) changed the entire course of the innings.

Paudel cracked two crisp fours off debutant pacer Ramon Simmonds, while Malla brought the crowd alive with a boundary against Fabian Allen followed by a towering six in the spinner’s next over. Malla launched another six off Obed McCoy to push Nepal to 68 for 2 at the halfway mark.

Rohit Paudel–Kushal Malla stand rescues Nepal

Rohit and Kushal’s 58-run partnership steadied Nepal before debutant leg-spinner Navin Bidaisee struck twice in quick succession to remove both set batters. However, Gulsan Jha (22) and Dipendra Singh Airee (17) kept the scoreboard ticking, but wickets kept falling.

Bidaisee finished with the impressive figures of 3/29, while Jason Holder also scalped three wickets as Nepal fought their way to a competitive 148/8. Chasing 149, West Indies began briskly with Kyle Mayers hitting the first ball for four. But Bhurtel’s lightning-fast direct hit in the second over ran Mayers out for just five runs, triggering early trouble for the Caribbean side.

Later, the debutant Ackeem Auguste counterattacked with two cracking sixes, but he was also dismissed during the powerplay for just 15 runs off 7 balls. At 40/2 after six overs, West Indies still looked in control, but Nepal’s spinners turned the tables in style.

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Karan KC ends Akeal Hosein’s late charge

Rohit Paudel and Lalit Rajbanshi bowled tight lines, conceding only 16 runs in the next four overs while picking up a wicket each. With 93 still needed from the last ten overs on a slow Sharjah pitch, the pressure began to mount on the West Indies team.

Later, Bidaisee, Fabian Allen, and Akeal Hosein tried to revive the chase with some big hits, but the asking rate climbed steeply. With 70 needed off the last five overs and 49 off the final three, the task became nearly impossible.

A couple of dropped catches in the 18th over briefly gave Hosein a lifeline, adding a four and a six, but Karan KC dismissed him in the very next over to shut the door on any comeback.

Eventually, Nepal wrapped up the game in style as the West Indies could manage 129/9 in 20 overs, with Bhurtel taking two scalps in the first T20I match on Saturday.