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Nepal stun WI to take 1-0 lead, Paudel and Bhurtel play starring roles in big upset

Aakash Saini

Nepal beat West Indies in first T20I [Source: @CricketNep/x]Nepal beat West Indies in first T20I [Source: @CricketNep/x]

Nepal stunned a relatively young West Indies side in Sharjah in the first T20I to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Despite Jason Holder’s four-wicket haul and captain Akeal Hosein’s tight three-fer, the men from the Caribbean were overpowered by Nepal captain Rohit Paudel and through some collective bowling brilliance from the designated hosts.

Here, we take a look at the entire highlights of the first T20I of the three-match series between Nepal and West Indies, as it panned out at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah on Saturday, September 27.

Rohit Paudel steers Nepal to 148 despite Holder’s four-fer

Nepal batted first and carted a competitive 148-8 from 20 overs, with captain Rohit Paudel leading the way at number three through his 38-run knock in 35 balls. Kushal Malla also made 30 off 21 balls with two huge sixes after the early loss of both openers to Akeal Hosein (1-18) and Jason Holder. After striking with the new ball, Holder snared three more wickets in the innings, all during the slog overs to seal sensational figures of 4-20 in his four overs.

Navin Bidaisee cut through Nepal’s middle-order following Rohit Paudel’s fighting 58-run partnership with Malla. Bidaisee got the prized scalps of both Paudel and Malla, as well as that of Gulsan Jha to finish with 3-29.

Kushal Bhurtel inspires Nepal to spirited win

Nepal opening batter Kushal Bhurtel pulled off a sensational runout to pack blistering West Indies opener Kyle Mayers for just five early in the innings. Nandan Yadav sent down just one over and got rid of West Indies number three Ackeem Auguste. Rohit Paudel (1-20) and Lalit Rajbanshi (1-6) accounted for five overs between them, conceding just 26 runs in the process with two key wickets.

Bhurtel struck twice during the middle overs to claim figures of 2-17 as West Indies slipped to 94-7 at one stage of their run-chase. Navin Bidaisee, Fabian Allen and captain Akeal Hosein clattered some crucial runs but no avail as the West Indies fell short of their target by 19 runs to go 0-1 down in the three-match series.