Harare [Zimbabwe], June 22 : Following his side's 101-run win over Nepal in the ICC Cricket World Cup qualifier, West Indies skipper Shai Hope said that he believed that his rhythm was a bit off and having Nicholas Pooran at the other end made things easy for him.
Centuries by skipper Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran and great spells by Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph and Akeal Hosein helped an all-round West Indies clinch a 101-run win over Nepal in their ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2023 match at Harare on Thursday.
"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," said Hope in a post-match presentation.
"The aim was to take it as deep as possible give us the best chance towards the end. I do not 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 is obviously room for improvement, so we need to make sure we are ticking those boxes going into the next game," added Hope.
With this win, WI is at the top of the Group A table with two wins in two matches. On the other hand, Nepal is at the fourth position with one win and two losses, which is a total of two points.
Coming to the match, West Indies was put to bat first by Nepal and they posted a total of 339/7 on the board. After being reduced to 9/2, centuries from Hope (132 in 129 balls, with 10 four and three sixes) and Nicholas Pooran (115 in 94 balls, with 10 fours and four sixes) helped the two-time champions make a big comeback.
Lalit Rajbanshi (3/52) was the pick of the bowlers for Nepal.
In the chase of 340, Nepal was never in the game and lost wickets regularly. They were bundled out for 238 in 49.4 overs. Aarif Sheikh (63 in 93 balls, with four boundaries and a six), Gulsan Jha (42 off 58 balls, with five fours and a six) and skipper Rohit Paudel (30 in 43 balls, with three fours) posted some decent scores, but not good enough to win the match.
Jason Holder (3/34), Alzarri Joseph (2/44), Akeal Hossein (2/49), and Keemo Paul (2/63) were the chief wicket-takers for the Windies.
Hope got the 'Player of the Match' for his century.
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