Nepal on Sunday celebrated their stunning victory against the West Indies, their first-ever win in an international cricket match against a Test-playing nation.
Nepal defeated West Indies by 19 runs in the first T20 international of a three-match series in Sharjah on Saturday. The win marks Nepal’s first triumph over the two-time T20 World Cup champions, and represents a major milestone for the rising cricketing nation.
“It is a historic win for us and helps improve our players’ standing in the cricketing world,” Chatur Bahadur Chand, President of the Cricket Association of Nepal, told AFP. After the Nepali middle-order took them to a competitive score of 148-8, the bowlers produced a disciplined performance to restrict the West Indies.
Nepali fans in replica team jerseys cheered and waved the national flag as they watched the game in the stadium, TV images showed. “It was not expected but as the game progressed we saw there was a chance we could win,” said Pujan Thapa, 27, who watched the game with family and friends on TV in Kathmandu.
“We were so happy, we stood up and danced.” The win came as Nepal recovers from a deadly anti-corruption protest that killed at least 73 people and toppled the government. Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel dedicated the win to the “martyrs” of the protests, saying it would be great if they could give people “a little bit of happiness”, ESPNcricinfo.com reported.
Cricket does not enjoy the same adulation in mountainous Nepal as it does elsewhere in South Asia. But it has been growing in popularity, with Nepal given one-day international status by the world governing body ICC in 2018. Former chief selector Dipendra Chaudhary said the win was a result of the team’s hard work. “It will motivate them to play well and inspire other young cricketers,” he said. Social media platforms were also flooded with congratulatory messages for the players.