NEP vs WI, Review | Rohit Paudel leads from front as Nepal take 1-0 lead in series against West Indies

West Indies won the toss and elected to field first in the opening game of the series, and put the pressure on Nepal in the first four overs as both their openers were dismissed cheaply with the score reading 18/2. While Kushal Bhurtel was stumped by Jangoo off Akeal Hosein in the third over, Aasif Sheikh was dismissed by Holder in the fourth. Though Nepal’s skipper Rohit Paudel made a slight improvement in the situation towards the end of the power play after smashing a couple of boundaries in the sixth over by Ramon Simmonds, they still ended the first six overs on a below-par score of 34/2. While it was not a promising start for the Associate nation, Kushal Malla and Paudel built a steady 58-run stand for the third wicket to keep the team in the game. Unfortunately, as soon as the two batters started to find some rhythm, debutante Navin Bidaisee spoiled the party by dismissing both set batters. The 25-year-old Leg-spinner broke the partnership in the 11th over by dismissing Malla on 30, and ended Paudel’s patient knock of 38 off 35 in the 13th over as the batter gave a simple catch to Ackeem Auguste at deep mid-wicket. As soon as both batters were dismissed, Nepal were in a tricky position with the score at 89/4. Though the Caribbean bowlers had got them in a spot of bother, Gulshan Jha and Dipendra Singh Airee formed a 30-run stand to keep the hopes of a decent score alive. While Jha played some aggressive strokes at one end, Airee played the anchor role at the other. Though Jha was eventually dismissed by Bidiasee in the 17th over, a 150+ score was looking possible as the score read 121/5 with three overs to go. However, Holder wreaked havoc in the 19th over by taking three wickets and conceding only five runs. The former West Indian skipper dismissed Airee and Sundeep Jora, who fell victim to some spectacular catches by Bidiasee and Karima Gore, and ended the over with a wicket of Karan KC to complete his four-wicket haul. Despite the magical over by Holder, Sompal Kami and Nandan Yadav still managed to push the final score to 148/8 by scoring 12 runs in the 20th over, which was bowled by Obed McCoy.

While Nepal had a quiet power play in the first innings, the Windies also struggled to get going in the second innings as Kyle Mayers was run out in the second over by Kushal Bhurtel, and Auguste threw his wicket away after a seven-ball 15-run start. The Caribbean Giants finally finished the power play on a score of 40/2. The struggles did not end there, as the runs were hard to come by, and they started to lose wickets at regular intervals. While the Nepalese captain dismissed Jewel Andrew in the eighth over, Amir Jangoo’s sluggish knock of 19 off 22 balls was ended by Lalit Rajbanshi in the ninth over as the score read 53/4. The situation went from bad to worse for the two-time T20 world champions as Keacy Carty was run out by the lightning-fast reflexes of Airee, and Holder was dismissed cheaply by Bhurtel in the 15th over. As the wickets continued to tumble, the West Indies' innings was in disarray, with the score reading 79/6. The game seemed to be going Nepal's way as Bidiasee’s tentative knock of 22 off 25 deliveries was ended in the 17th over after he was dismissed hit-wicket by Bhurtel. However, Hosein and Fin Allen kept the match alive with some explosive shots towards the end, bringing the equation down to 30 off 12. Though the batters had given them a slight chance to recover, Karan KC bowled not only to dismiss the West Indian skipper but also conceded only two runs in the penultimate over, leaving 28 runs in the last six deliveries. This was a tough task for the Windies and in the end, they fell short by 19 runs as Nepal caused an upset and won the game by 19 runs.

The player of the match was Rohit Paudel, who played a decent knock of 38 off 35 deliveries in the game.