That full delivery was hit hard but straight back to Mayers who snaffles it in his follow-through as Nepal get bowl out for 238 with two balls to go. This has been a convincing victory by West Indies; their bowling was too hot to handle for Nepal and they particularly struggled against the hostile short-pitch assault
West Indies vs Nepal, 9th Match, Group A at Harare, CWC Qualifier, Jun 22 2023 - Ball by Ball Commentary
Thanks all for your company and feedback. Stick around for Danyal Rasool's report. But from me, cheerio!
Rohit Paudel, Nepal Captain: I think in early stages, we bowled really well but we dropped a few catches...we could have done better in the field. Usually we field well but today we missed a few opportunities. Later both Pooran and Hope batted really well so credit to them also. I think we could have done better by using the pace, Aarif and Gulshan played really well. We look forward to tackle them and short balls. (on biggest learning) playing against Test playing nations have taught me a lot. We have to be up to the mark in every game.
Shai Hope, West Indies Captain and Player of the Match: I believe the rhythm was a bit off. I am just happy that I came good for the team. We were put on the backfoot there...happy to get the team over the line today. The key was absorbing as much pressure as possible and then find a way to transfer that pressure in the back end. Pooran made it a lot easier for me. The aim was to take it as deep as possible give us the best chance towards the end. I don't think I hit the targets where I wanted to but happy to just bat as deep as I possibly could there. The team really needed me. They bowled well, must commend their bowlers, especially their spinners, they stuck to their task well. We batted well in that period to overcome their spin threat. There's obviously room for improvement, so we need to make sure we are ticking those boxes going into the next game.
We saw a significant mismatch in both teams' bowling. West Indies, the big boys, were quite clinical with the ball and tested Nepal with the short-pitch barrage, bouncing out many batters. Heartbreaking for Nepal, of course, but they yet again played with a lot of passion and valour. However, they struggled against the likes of Holder, Joseph, Mayers and then later Akeal spun a web around the batters. It's a massive learning curve for them playing against an experienced side and they almost batted through 50 overs. They were able to peg West Indies back with the ball in the bowling powerplay after winning the toss and got early wickets too but then Nicholas Pooran and Shai Hope took control of the game and forged a colossal 216-run partnership.
Elina Poudel: "The past few years of busy cricket engagements with associate nations have propelled Nepal's cricket to its current level. Now, imagine the potential if we were to have a few more years of cricketing opportunities against test-playing nations."
Bishal Gautam: "Well played boys, hold your head high and let's try to win against Ned to go for Super Six. Let's gain much more experience and leverage that to get a fantastic run of Asia Cup as well." I foresee Nepal becoming a force to reckon with in next few years. They have got the potential, hunger and a talented group of players to cause trouble to the heavyweights
Smoked it! That must bring a big smile of Nepal fans, uses his long levers and pounds it over the bowler's head for a huuuuuuuge six
Goes for the yorker from round the wicket angle, squeezed out to wide mid-off
Low harmless full toss on the pads, guided away with soft hands to deep fine leg's left
Overrate penalty has been applied, one fielder from outside the ring has to come in
Rapid delivery on a length, follows the batter who was wandering down the leg side, smartly bowled as he defends it back to the bowler
Cutter on a shorter length outside off, backs away and hammers this to deep third man
Back of the hand slow ball on a length on middle and off, too early into his shot and the ball flutters down the pitch
Fortuitous but they all count! He is going after every delivery, thick inside edge scutters away to fine leg boundary
Tries to clobber that over midwicket, too far away across the stumps as he throws the kitchen sink at it
Dishes out a wide, he will have to reload this delivery, goes way too high over the batter's head
Poor work in tandem at deep square, goes back and butchers this short ball, Charles tries to flick the ball inside the rope, gets his hand on it but then it hits his shin and deflects away to the boundary. Proper smack nevertheless
Can West Indies bowl Nepal out inside 50 overs? Almost as King drops a difficult chance at the slip. Back of a length, swirling away outside off, he takes a few steps to the on side to run it down to third man, it was in slip's reach but he cannot clung onto it.
Length ball, outside off, tapped to point off the backfoot
Shorter, slants across off, went for an almighty heave, can't time his shot
Fires in shortish delivery on fourth stump line, kicks and screams off the turf and once again like many times in this innings, he cannot lay bat on it
Big heave across the line and the ball goes whizzing past the outside edge. Banged into the pitch and gets it to shape away outside off, not near the line of the ball as he went for the pull across the line
Back of a length outside off, makes room and hacks it away past backward point for a run
bimal bista: "Nepali batters mostly fail to convert 30s 40s to half-century and 60s 70s to century."
Prem Karki: "I will take these matches against the West Indies and Zimbabwe as valuable practice fixtures before our upcoming encounters with India and Pakistan in a couple of months."
Agni: "@sawin I agree with your statement. CAN (cricket association of Nepal) should focus to start multi day turnament. It will be very innitiative step if CAN start 3 or 4 day turnament using 10 teams (7 provigences and 3 division teams) on round robin basis. It will improve skills on all three department"
Sabin: "You can't blame Nepali batters for this..All of these guys are facing such pace attack for the first time in their career. They have played spinners relatively well. Need more matches against full members."
Dinesh Rimal: "I would like to express my sincere appreciation and admiration for the remarkable progress of Nepali cricket in recent years. It is truly inspiring to witness the growth and development of the sport in Nepal, which has captured the attention of cricket enthusiasts worldwide. The strides made by the Nepali cricket team are testament to their dedication, perseverance, and undeniable talent."
Length ball on off, he slugs it off the backfoot to deep square's left
Shortish ball whizzed outside off, beats the upper-cut
That's a good response from the bowler, fires in a seething yorker right into the blockhole, he manages to defend