World Cup 2023 Qualifiers, Day 5 Round-up: Hope, Pooran slam tons as West Indies hammer Nepal by 101 runs

Skipper Shai Hope (132 off 129) and Nicholas Pooran (115 off 94) smashed hundreds as West Indies beat Nepal by 101 runs in the ninth game of the ICC World Cup 2023 Qualifiers at Harare Sports Club on Thursday (June 22).

Nepal won the toss and opted to bowl first in the Group A clash. They got off to an impressive start, as Karan KC and Gulsan Jha dismissed Kyle Mayers (1) and Johnson Charles (0) respectively. West Indies slipped to 55-3 when Brandon King (32) chopped a delivery from Sandeep Lamichhane back onto his stumps.

Hope and Pooran then lifted the Windies, adding 216 runs for the fourth wicket. While Hope smashed ten fours and three sixes, Pooran hammered ten fours and four sixes. The impressive stand ended when Pooran was caught and bowled by Dipendra Singh as West Indies ended up with an imposing total of 339-7.

West Indies make it two in two at the #CWC23 Qualifier with a big win over Nepal 💥

#CWC23 | 📝 #WIvNEP: bit.ly/46fnbwB https://t.co/4j8RhclwiE

Nepal were then bundled out for 238 in 49.4 overs as West Indies registered a thumping win in the World Cup 2023 Qualifiers clash. Aarif Sheikh top-scored for Nepal with 63, but no other batter crossed the half-century mark.

For West Indies, Jason Holder registered figures of 3-34, while Alzarri Joseph, Keemo Paul and Akeal Hosein picked up two wickets apiece.

Netherlands beat United States by five wickets in World Cup 2023 Qualifiers

Netherlands got the better of United States by five wickets in the tenth game of the ICC World Cup 2023 Qualifiers at the Takashinga Sports Club in Harare. Bowling first after winning the toss, Netherlands did a great job to restrict US to 211-8.

Ryan Klein and Bas de Leede picked up two wickets apiece, while Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Clayton Floyd and Vikramjit Singh claimed one scalp apiece. US were in big trouble at 88-6 at the start of the 27th over. However, Shayan Jahangir (71 off 86) and Jessy Singh (38 off 55) added 86 runs for the seventh wicket to lift the batting side Nosthush Kenjige (19*) and Saurabh Netravalkar (14*) also chipped in with handy cameos to take United States past the 210 mark.

Netherlands got off to a shaky start in their chase and were 83-4 in the 22nd over. Jessy Singh picked up two of the four wickets to fall, trapping Max O’Dowd (26) and Wesley Barresi (29) leg before.

Netherlands are off the mark in the points table with a clinical victory ✌

#CWC23 | 📝 #NEDvUSA: bit.ly/42RLGwX https://t.co/JtubjEkfHt

Teja Nidamanuru (58 off 68) and Dutch captain Scott Edwards (67* off 60), though, added 72 runs for the fifth wicket to ease the path for Netherlands’ chase in the World Cup 2023 Qualifiers clash.