Winning the toss Nepal invited the USA to bat first at the Somerset Cricket Club in Bermuda but Nepal´s decision backfired as the USA posted a mammoth total of 366/6 in 50 overs. In reply, Nepal was all out for 272 with one ball remaining in the innings.[break]
USA got off to a flying start as openers Steven Taylor and Orlando Baker put up a 125-run partnership in 17.2 overs. While Baker scored a patient 37 runs off 56 balls, Taylor brought up his century off just 61 balls.
After reaching hundred, the Florida-born Taylor launched an onslaught on the Nepali bowlers, demonstrating why he was the top run scorer in the recent ICC Americas Division 1 Championship. Taylor clobbered 12 fours and 12 sixes during his knock.
Nepal finally got the breakthrough it was looking for when Basanta Regmi caught Taylor off Sanjam Regmi in the second ball of the 35th over. USA was 234/3 in 35 overs. Following Taylor´s departure, USA lost wickets at regular intervals. However, the Nepali bowlers could not stop the flow of runs as Timroy Allen hammered a quickfire unbeaten 67 to help the USA post a formidable total of 366 for six.
Sushil Nadkarni (28) and Neil McGarrel (22) also played important cameos in the USA innings.
It was a forgettable day for the hapless Nepali bowlers as all but one of them finished with economy rates of above 7. Basanta Regmi, whose bowling figures were 10-0-46-2, with an economy rate of 4.6.
Amrit Bhattarai and spinners Sanjam Regmi and Shakti Gauchan took one wicket each. USA batsmen hit 25 fours and 22 sixes combined during the innings. Nepal conceded 21 runs as extras.
Needing 367 runs for victory, Nepal never looked in the hunt as it lost opener Anil Mandal for a duck in the second over and another opener Subash Khakurel (23) in the eighth over.
Half of the Nepali side was back in the pavilion by the 24th over with just 106 runs on the board as Gyanendra Malla (9), Binod Bhandari (4) and Pradeep Airee (14) also fell cheaply. Skipper Paras Khadka and Sharad Vesawkar shared a 69-run partnership for the sixth wicket, the highest in the Nepali innings.
Khadka scored 73 with nine fours and two sixes before he was caught by wicketkeeper Taylor. Vesawkar, who was dropped by Neil McGarrell, went on to score 72 runs from 61 balls. Vesawkar hit four fours and six sixes.
The tail-end continued the run chase and Shakti Gauchan added 39 before being caught in the penultimate delivery of the match, leaving Nepal all out for 272 in 49.5 overs.
Veteran McGarrell, who had played four Tests and 17 One-Day matches for the West Indies in the past, was the pick of the USA bowlers with three for 42. Elmore Hutchingson and Muhammad Ghous claimed two wickets each while Barrington Bartley grabbed one wicket. Sanjam Regmi and Gyanendra Malla were run out.
Basanta Regmi scored 7 and Sanjam Regmi, 14 while Amrit Bhattarai remained not out without scoring.
Taylor was adjudged the man-of-the-match for his knock of 162.
USA skipper Steve Massiah was elated with the result. “We are very pleased with the performance. I thought it was important that, playing against Nepal who we´ve had many close encounters with over the years and shared matches with - it´s good to come away with a win. Moving forward, it´s important that we continue the momentum,” Massiah told ICC.
“Initially we didn´t plan to make 366, but we´ll take it! I thought it was an incredible performance by young Steven Taylor to score 162. That was amazing batting, and it´s not batting that you see every day, so with that and some other brilliant performances, everyone chipping in, it just goes to show the depth of our team,” he continued.
Man-of-the-match Taylor, who became the first USA batsman to score a century in Twenty20 cricket at the ICC Americas Division 1 Championship earlier this year, was pleased with his performance. “It was really fun, because after playing against these guys in Malaysia in Division 4 last year, it felt good to come back and give them a real hitting. They beat us twice in Malaysia,” said Taylor.
Nepal captain Paras Khadka was disappointed with the result, despite his side scoring a very respectable total of 272. “As a team, maybe we gave 40 runs more to USA. If it had been 300 or 330, maybe it would have been at par. But when a guy makes 162, it´s just one of those days when you cannot do anything,” said Khadka.
“We were disappointed. Maybe a bigger ground would have made a difference, but Taylor batted extremely well, and I think it is one of the best innings we´ve witnessed as a team. The bowlers of both the teams had a really tough time. But this is the start of the tournament, so we need to take all the positives and move ahead. In the World Cricket League, every match is equally important, and you cannot make excuses. You´ve got to adapt and adjust your game accordingly, and your focus has got to be there,” he added.
In other matches, Uganda beat host Bermuda by 114 runs while Oman crushed Italy by seven wickets. Nepal was playing against Uganda on Monday night when this news was filed.
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