West Indies ‘A’ win series, with a game to spare

By Cricketing Country | Posted Posted May 03, 2024

West Indies ‘A’ have won the five-match Series against Nepal following a 28-run victory in the fourth Twenty20 at the TU grounds on Thursday.

The visitors had lost the first match but bounced back to defeat Nepal in the next three to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the Series.

It was once again the big names that punished Nepali bowlers as Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher both hit explosive half centuries in West Indies ‘A’ total of 209-3 in 20 overs.

Nepal once again had their skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel doing the bulk of scoring before they were folded for 181 in 20 overs.

Rested for the third match after the scores of 112 and 71 in the first two, Rohit scored a 47-ball 82 after openers Aasif Sheikh (duck) and Kushal Bhurtel (one) along with No 4 Kushal Malla (four) fell cheaply.

Rohit continued to make runs while adding 40 runs with Sundeep Jora and 53 runs with Dipendra Singh Airee for the fourth and fifth wicket respectively.

When the Nepali captain was out, the hosts had made just 124 with 39 balls remaining. A strong bowling line-up hardly gave any chance for Nepali bowlers to chase down the total.

Rohit’s 47-ball 82 included seven fours and five sixes. Sundeep, Gulshan Jha and Dipendra were next best scorers for Nepal with 19 runs each. Abinash Bohora hit an eight-ball 17.

Matthew Forde and Hayden Walsh took three wickets each for West Indies ‘A’. Fabian Allen and Gudakesh Motie had two scalps apiece.

Earlier, Nepal struck early after Pratis GC had Alick Athanaze caught by Sundeep but Charles and Fletcher kept smacking the bowlers. They added 92 runs for the second wicket.

Charles, who had struck a scintillating century in the previous game, fell to Kushal Bhurtel for a 30-ball 58 that included six sixes and three boundaries.

Fletcher did the rest and added 83 runs for the fourth wicket with Allen who smashed a 19-ball 33. Fletcher was unbeaten on a 54-ball 84 with nine fours and four boundaries.

Kushal took 2-23 from four overs for Nepal. The final Twenty20 is on Saturday.