Nepal celebrates historic cricket win over former champions West Indies

Nepal bushed the West Indies by 19 runs successful the archetypal of their 3 T20I matches successful Sharjah, spurring chaotic celebrations.

Cricket fans successful Nepal are celebrating their team’s historical triumph implicit the West Indies successful a T20 planetary match, the country’s first-ever triumph implicit a Test-playing nation.

Nepal defeated the two-time erstwhile satellite champions by 19 runs successful the archetypal fixture of their three-match T20I bid successful Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) connected Saturday.

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Nepal’s fans cheered for their squad wildly successful the stands astatine the Sharjah Cricket Stadium good aft the lucifer had ended, and the celebrations continued overnight backmost successful the South Asian nation.

After being asked to bat first, Nepal posted a competitory full of 148-8 successful their 20 overs, with contributions from skipper Rohit Paudel (38) and middle-order batter Kushal Malla (30).

The Rhinos past enactment connected a spirited bowling and fielding show to restrict the West Indies, who won the T20 World Cup successful 2012 and 2016, led by Kushal Bhurtel’s spell of 2-17 from his 4 overs.

🇳🇵A caller section written successful Nepal’s cricketing story! 📣

Rhinos 🇳🇵 defeats West Indies by 19 runs our first-ever triumph against a afloat subordinate nation! pic.twitter.com/98cJlLMAwP

— CAN (@CricketNep) September 27, 2025

The triumph represents a large milestone for the rising cricketing nation.

“It is simply a historical triumph for america and helps amended our players’ lasting successful the cricketing world,” Chatur Bahadur Chand, president of the Cricket Association of Nepal, told the AFP quality agency.

Nepali fans successful replica squad shirts cheered and waved the nationalist emblem arsenic they watched the crippled successful the stadium, TV images showed.

“It was not expected, but arsenic the crippled progressed, we saw determination was a accidental we could win,” said Pujan Thapa, 27, who watched the crippled with household and friends connected TV successful Kathmandu.

“We were truthful happy, we stood up and danced.”

The triumph came arsenic Nepal recovers from deadly anticorruption protests that killed astatine slightest 72 radical and toppled the government.

Paudel dedicated the triumph to the protesters who mislaid their lives, saying it was for “the martyrs backmost home”, and that it would beryllium large if they could springiness radical “a small spot of happiness”.

Former main selector Dipendra Chaudhary said the triumph was a effect of the team’s hard work.

“It volition motivate them to play good and animate different young cricketers,” helium said.

Social media platforms were besides flooded with congratulatory messages for the players.

Cricket has been increasing successful popularity successful the mountainous nation, with Nepal fixed one-day planetary presumption by the satellite governing assemblage ICC successful 2018.

Nepal made its ICC T20 World Cup debut successful 2014 and returned to the tourney successful 2024, erstwhile it came agonisingly adjacent to defeating eventual finalists South Africa.