Nepal stormed to their most famous cricketing triumph on Monday night, thrashing West Indies by 90 runs in the second T20 International in Sharjah to claim an unassailable 2–0 series lead.
The victory – Nepal’s second in a row against the two-time world champions – also marked the heaviest defeat ever inflicted by an Associate nation on a Full Member in men’s T20Is. West Indies were bundled out for just 83, their sixth-lowest T20I total.
Batting first, Nepal posted a competitive 173/6 in 20 overs. After early wickets threatened to derail the innings, opener Aasif Sheikh (68 not out off 47) and Sundeep Jora (63 off 39) rebuilt brilliantly.
The pair added 100 runs for the fourth wicket, mixing controlled strokes with aggressive hitting. Jora struck five sixes in his career-best innings before falling late, while Sheikh anchored till the end, carrying his bat.
Mohammad Aadil Alam, who made a comeback to the National color, chipped in with a brisk cameo (11 off 5) to give Nepal late momentum, while West Indies captain Akeal Hosein was the pick of the bowlers with 2/21.
In reply, the West Indies innings never got going. They crawled to 16/2 in the powerplay, losing Jewel Andrew (2) and Keacy Carty (1) cheaply. Only Jason Holder (21) showed any resistance, but wickets kept tumbling at the other end.
Medium-pacer Aadil Alam, returning to international cricket after three years, was the star with the ball, grabbing 4/24 in a dream comeback. Kushal Bhurtel, who had earlier taken a sharp catch, finished with 3/16 to clean up the tail.
Nepal's fielding brilliance stood out, with Gulshan Jha pulling off two stunning diving catches that kept West Indies under relentless pressure.
"We are very happy," Nepal captain Rohit Paudel said after the match.
"It took a lot to win against a Test-playing country and, after two days, winning a bilateral series feels really great.
"This was a very important series for us to showcase our cricket and talent to the world. The way we've been playing the last two or three years, lots of eyes are on us. We want to continue this way and play more against Test-playing nations"
The resounding win comes just days after Nepal stunned West Indies in the first T20I, and with one game still to play, the Rhinos have already clinched the series 2–0.
What makes the achievement even more remarkable is that Nepal did it without star spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, who has missed both games citing personal reasons.
Nepal will now look to complete a famous whitewash when the third and final T20I takes place on Tuesday.
