The West Indies became the first side to secure a place in the Super Eights stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after a commanding nine-wicket victory against Nepal on Sunday.
After limiting Nepal to 133-8 in their allotted 20 overs, skipper Shai Hope led the chase with an unbeaten 61, guiding his team to 134-1 in just 15.2 overs during the Group C encounter at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
Hope brought up his half-century off 38 deliveries, striking three sixes and five boundaries. He also shared an unbroken 91-run partnership with Shimron Hetmyer as West Indies reached the target with 28 balls to spare.
Hetmyer remained unbeaten on 46 from 32 balls, hitting two sixes and four fours.
Earlier, after Hope won the toss and opted to field, Matthew Forde produced an impressive spell of 1-10 from four overs, dismissing Nepal captain Rohit Paudel for five.
Nepal struggled early on, slipping to 22-3 by the end of the powerplay and further collapsing to 46-5 in the 11th over as Jason Holder chipped in with key wickets.
A fighting 58 from Dipendra Singh Airee helped Nepal cross the 100-run mark, as he added 54 runs for the seventh wicket alongside Sompal Kami, who remained unbeaten on 26.
Holder was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with figures of 4-27 from his four overs.
The defeat confirmed Nepal’s elimination from this year’s tournament, ending their hopes of advancing further in the T20 World Cup.
