West Indies sail into Super Eights with nine-wicket win over Nepal in T20 WC

Mumbai: Skipper Shai Hope led the way with an unbeaten 61 with Shimron Hetmyer in tow with 46 not out as the West Indies registered a nine-wicket victory against an insipid Nepal, becoming the first team to qualify for the Super Eights stage of the T20 World Cup, here on Sunday.

After Jason Holder returned fine figures of 4/27 to restrict Nepal to a modest 133 for 8 on the back of Dipendra Singh Airee’s valiant 58 not out, West Indies cruised to 134 for 1 in 15.2 overs to win the match with 28 balls to spare in their Group C clash.

With three wins from as many matches, West Indies are at the top of the Group C and made it to the Super 8s.

West Indies captain Hope bounced back to form with 61 not out from 44 balls, studded with five fours and three sixes. On the other hand, the in-form Hetmyer remained unbeaten on 46 (32 balls; 4 fours, 2 sixes) in another significant contribution.

Airee’s first-innings heroics was the only bright spot for the Rhinos and their fans who once against filled up the Wankhede Stadium’s stands in large numbers, but returned disappointed with another massive defeat.

Brandon King (22) appeared to be hitting his strides when he smacked three fours off Sompal Kami in the fifth over of the chase but fell soon after, mis-hitting one to mid-on where Nandan Yadav had him caught by Kushal Bhurtel. But that was the only success that came Nepal’s way with the ball as once again their passionate crowd went silent as West Indies went about comfortably in the chase of a modest total.

Hope’s half-century included a delightful drive down the ground early on, whereas Hetmyer began with a couple of fours in the seventh over but was left stranded four runs short of what would have been his second fifty of this T20 World Cup. Together, they put on an unbeaten 91 runs for the second wicket.

On their part, Nepal bowlers simply failed to apply any pressure as West Indies enjoyed another successful outing with the bat.

Earlier, Airee (58) and Sompal Kami (26 not out) found a late surge to lift a struggling Nepal to 133 for 8.

Barring Airee, who struck three sixes and as many fours for his 47-ball 58, Nepal batters cut a sorry figure on a fresh Wankhede Stadium’s deck which did not assist spin much nor was two-paced.

If not for Airee’s dogged knock and Kami’s late strikes, including three consecutive fours in the 18th over, Nepal would have finished at a far lesser total owing to an insipid show from their specialist batters earlier.

Unperturbed with ordinary cricket from others around him, Airee gave a fine display of application and aggression, punishing any loose delivery in his hitting arc while his running between the wickets was sharp. Nepal had slipped to 46 for 5 in the 11th over, failing to find any momentum whatsoever on a batting-friendly track, with poor shots and lack of application continuing to haunt them.