West Indies domination over Nepal; Netherlands open their account against USA - CWC23 Qualifier Day 5 wrap

West Indies held complete sway in their maiden contest against Nepal. In the other game of the day, Netherlands managed a comfortable win over USA.

West Indies vs Nepal scorecard

West Indies were at the top of their game in the batting and bowling department, and secured a massive win over Nepal.

West Indies were poor in the field but still managed to eke out two Nepal wickets in the first powerplay. Kushal Bhurtel was cleaned up by Alzarri Joseph for five, whereas Bhim Sarki scored only two before being caught behind off the bowling of Jason Holder. Nepal's chances dropped even further after Aasif Sheikh (28) fell to a loose stroke in the 12th over.

Over the next few overs, the sub-continental side looked to preserve wickets in order to rebuild their innings.

But this effort received a setback when Holder bounced out Rohit Paudel for 30. Akeal Hosein joined in on the fun when he got the wicket of Kushal Malla courtesy a brilliant catch in the deep by substitute, Keacy Carter.

In the second half, Nepal went into the defensive mode soon after Dipendra Airee (23) fell to Hosein in the 28th over. Aarif Sheikh and Gulsan Jha stayed at the wicket but added merely 68 runs from 94 balls. In the final powerplay, West Indies managed to run through the Nepal lower-order. Jason Holder (3/34), Alzarri Joseph (2/44), Akeal Hossein (2/49), and Keemo Paul (2/63) were the chief wicket takers.

A massive 216-run stand for the fourth wicket between Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran helped West Indies overcome early hiccups and the side reached a total in excess of 300.

West Indies had a nightmarish start to their innings, losing Kyle Mayers (1) and Johnson Charles (0) in the first five overs. Probing new-ball spells from Nepal bowlers was backed by sharp work in the field as West Indies batters struggled for runs in the initial overs. The batting side were 30/2 at the end of first powerplay.

Gradually, Brandon King and Shai Hope grew in confidence and improved their scoring rate. But just when they had started taking off, King fell to Sandeep Lamichhane in the 15th over. This was the leg-spinner's first wicket of the tournament. Nepal very nearly had their fourth wicket when Nicholas Pooran edged a Lalit Rajbanshi delivery behind the wicket, but the keeper failed to hold on.

This drop proved to be costly as Hope and Pooran unleashed a series of exquisite shots to bring West Indies back into the game.

The set batters made Nepal pay for even the smallest of errors and went about piling quick runs. They added almost 100 runs between the 26-37 over mark. Both the batters brought up their centuries in the 40th over. This was the 15th ODI hundred for Hope, whereas it was the second ODI century for Pooran.

Nepal finally got a breakthrough when Dipendra Airee pulled off a brilliant catch off his own bowling to end Pooran's knock at 115. Their stand of 216 was the second-best fourth-wicket partnership for West Indies in ODIs.

Pooran's fall brought little relief to the bowling side, as the West Indies continued wreaking havoc on the pitch. Hope's (132) brilliant hundred came to an end in the final over.

Earlier today, Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel called it right at the toss, and decided to take the field. The Asian team backed the same XI which had won against the USA.

Shai Hope-led West Indies also went in with the same side that had featured in their last game. Both teams are at two points in the Group A points table, and would look to enhance their chances of a Super Six spot with a win.

Netherlands vs USA scorecard

Barring a short spell of play when USA bowlers got through three quick middle-order wickets, the American side were never quite in the contest against the Dutch.

Ali Khan returned in style as he pulled off a good catch to dismiss Vikramjit Singh in the fourth over. However, little else went USA's way in the first powerplay as Netherlands batters Max O'Dowd and Wesley Barresi scored at a healthy run rate.

The Dutch seemed to be cruising at 61/1 in 11 overs, but Jessy Singh bowled an impeccable spell of 2/13 during which he accounted for O'Dowd and Barresi. Another breakthrough by Saurabh Netravalkar in the 22nd over made the game an even affair.

The fifth-wicket stand between Teja Nidamanuru and Scott Edwards shifted the advantage back to Netherlands. Their stand came at a brisk pace as the duo did not miss out on any run-scoring opportunity. This composed partnership added 72 runs from 81 balls, and brought the required run rate to under four an over.

USA got a flicker of hope when they got Nidamanuru (58) in the 34th over. But a settled Edwards ensured that his side crossed the line with no more losses. He finished at 67*.

In the first innings, disciplined bowling from the Netherlands ensured that USA never gained the upper hand.

The Dutch pacers were all over USA in the first powerplay. Ryan Klein (2/31) and Logan van Beek (1/43) accounted for the USA top order within a space of 34 balls. Coming in at No.5, the reliable Gajanand Singh tried to resuscitate the American innings with skipper Aaron Jones.

However, USA looked all out of sorts when Jones fell to Bas de Leede (2/37) off the final ball of the 14th over, and Gajanand (33) was dismissed by Vikramjit Singh in the 23rd over.

Just like in the last game, the task of rebuilding the American innings fell on Jahangir's shoulders. And the batter delivered, taking good support from Jessy Singh. Jahangir's resilience was rewarded as the batter reached his fifty in the 38th over mark.

As Jessy grew in confidence, he lofted a number of big sixes to complement Jahangir's positive approach. The duo added 86 runs off merely 99 balls, before Jessy fell to Aryan Dutt's bowling. Unlike the last game, Jahangir wasn't able to finish off with a century against his name and fell for 71. The USA tail then managed to hold on and get the side beyond 200.

Earlier in the day, Netherlands elected to field after winning the toss. USA were led once again by Jones, as their regular captain Monank Patel had failed to recover from his illness. The American side were, however, boosted by the return of Ali Khan, who replaced Kyle Phillip in the XI. Ali returns after having missed the first two games due to an ICC ban.

The pacer was in good form during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off in Namibia earlier this year. In his last international, he had picked a seven-for against Jersey.

Netherlands made one change to their line-up, with Ryan Klein coming in place of Saqib Zulfiqar.