Dominant Windies ‘A’ win after Charles’ undefeated century

KIRTIPUR, Nepal (CMC):

West Indies 'A' grabbed a 2-1 lead in their Twenty20 series (T20) against hosts Nepal after opener Johnson Charles carried his bat for a dynamic, Player-of-the-Match hundred to set the foundation for a 76-run win yesterday.

The 35-year-old St Lucian cracked 13 fours and seven sixes in an undefeated 119 off 61 balls, and, was the cornerstone of West Indies 'A's total of 227 for three after they decided to bat in the third T20 of the five-match series at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground.

Leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr followed up with a spell of three for 28 from four overs and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie ended with two for 28 from four overs, and the Nepalese were bowled out for 151 in 19.2 overs.

Nepal made four changes to their playing 11, including resting Rohit Paudel, their captain and most prolific batsman in the first two matches, and their batting struggled to come to terms with the visitor's attack.

Opener Lokesh Bam and Karan Khatri Chhetri, batting at nine, made 28, and Kushal Malla got 20. No other batter reached 20, and there were no significant partnerships to bring stability to the Nepalese batting.

Left-arm spinner Fabian Allen, playing his first match in the series, grabbed the breakthrough for West Indies 'A' in the fourth over.

He got opener Binod Bhandari caught at backward square leg for 19 and that was the only success the Caribbean side had in the Power Play, which ended with the hosts 45 for one.

Motie struck in the seventh over when he got Anil Sah caught at short third man for 14, and Nepal stumbled to 77 for three at the halfway stage after Walsh got Aarif Sheikh caught in "cow corner" for three in the 10th over.

The visitors poached four wickets - including two to Walsh and a run out - in the next five overs to leave the chase of the Nepalese in ruins, and the new-ball pair of left-arm pacer Obed McCoy and Matthew Forde returned to close out the match.

Nepal won the series opener by four wickets with two balls remaining last Saturday at the same venue, where West Indies 'A' won the second match by 10 runs the next day. The remaining two games will be played today and Saturday at the same ground.