Holder and Hope lead as Windies march in Super 8s of World Cup

Jason Holder led with the ball and Shai Hope with the bat as West Indies recorded a superb third successive win in Group C. They thumped Nepal by nine wickets and qualified for the Super 8 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

The Windies Indies had already triumphed over Scotland and England with ease to take command of the group and added two more points when they made light work of the Nepalese on Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Fast bowler Holder grabbed 4-27 and restricted Nepal to 133-8 off their 20 overs. He was named the Man of the Match and received the award from Samuel Badree, a two-time West Indies T20 World Cup winner from 2012 and 2016. Hope then smashed unbeaten 61 off 44 balls and Shimron Hetmyer scored 46 off 32 balls as West Indies cruised to 134-1 in 15.2 overs.

Hope said: “It’s crunch time now … into the Super 8s. I’m very pleased. This is what we set out to do and we got here. That’s one step and one hurdle that we’ve crossed and now on to the next stage. I’m glad I actually got the opportunity to decide what I wanted to do first. The guys put the ball in the right areas … It was difficult work for Nepal in the powerplay. Then it was about trying to limit the flow of runs and picking up wickets.”

Hope won the toss and from there controlled the game. West Indies bowled brilliantly from the start and Nepal were at one stage to six wickets down for 73 runs in 15 overs before Dipendra Singh Airee (58) and Sompal Kami (26 not out) added a 54-run stand in the death overs to give the total some respectability.

West Indies will now travel back east from Mumbai to Kolkata where they will face Italy in the final preliminary match on Wednesday morning at Eden Gardens. Due to their wins West Indies have so far pocketed US$96,000 in prize money.

Elsewhere on Sunday night, the most-anticipated game of this marquee global event is set to attract over 750 million viewers when India take on Pakistan at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo with uncertainty still surrounding world cricket’s marquee match-up.

Political and diplomatic tensions between the two nations have often boiled over on to the cricket field. This contest will be the first time the teams have met since last year’s acrimonious Asia Cup tournament in the United Arab Emirates which was won by India where the players refused to shake hands. (PS)

The post Holder and Hope lead as Windies march in Super 8s of World Cup appeared first on nationnews.com.