Nepal vs West Indies Cricket: A Historic Upset Story

The story of Nepal vs West Indies cricket is short, but it contains one of the most remarkable upsets the modern game has seen. In September 2025, Nepal — an ICC Associate nation better known abroad for the Himalayas than for cricket — beat the two-time world champions West Indies in a Twenty20 International series. This evergreen guide explains exactly what happened, sets the record straight on a famous near-miss that is often misremembered, and gives the verified scores with dates and sources.

For a country where cricket has become a genuine national passion, beating a Full Member like the West Indies was a watershed. Here is how the rivalry — brief but unforgettable — actually unfolded.

Key takeaways

• In September 2025, Nepal won a three-match T20I series 2-1 against a full West Indies side in Sharjah — their first-ever win over a Full Member nation.
• In the first T20I (27 September 2025) Nepal won by 19 runs; in the second (29 September 2025) Nepal won by 90 runs, bowling West Indies out for just 83.
• That 83 was the lowest total by a Full Member against an Associate, and the 90-run margin the biggest by an Associate over a Full Member.
• West Indies won the third T20I (30 September 2025) by 10 wickets, a consolation that did not change the series result.
• Nepal's celebrated one-run near-miss at the 2024 T20 World Cup was against South Africa, not West Indies — a common point of confusion worth correcting.
• West Indies A toured Nepal earlier in 2024, a useful precursor but distinct from facing the senior side.

Setting the scene

The West Indies are cricket royalty. Twice champions of the men's T20 World Cup (in 2012 and 2016), they are a Full Member of the ICC and one of the most storied names in the sport. Nepal, by contrast, is an Associate member, a team that only earned T20I status in 2014 and that plays most of its cricket on the qualifying circuit.

On paper, a meeting between the two should have been routine for the Caribbean side. What happened instead reshaped how the cricket world views Nepal — and gave Nepali fans the greatest day in their team's history.

The 2025 series: a historic first

In late September 2025, Nepal and a full-strength West Indies met for a three-match T20I series at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates, a neutral venue with a long international history. It was Nepal's first bilateral series against a Full Member, and few outside Nepal gave them much chance.

First T20I — 27 September 2025. Nepal posted 148 for 8 and then restricted West Indies to 129 for 9, winning by 19 runs. In doing so, Nepal recorded their first-ever victory over a Full Member nation — already a historic result before the series had even been decided.

Second T20I — 29 September 2025. This was the match that stunned the cricketing world. Nepal made 173 for 6, then bowled West Indies out for just 83, winning by a colossal 90 runs. According to match reporting, that total of 83 was the lowest by a Full Member team against an Associate nation, and the 90-run margin the largest by which an Associate has beaten a Full Member. With it, Nepal took an unassailable 2-0 lead and clinched the series.

Third T20I — 30 September 2025. West Indies salvaged pride with a 10-wicket win, chasing down Nepal's 122 comfortably. But the series was already gone: Nepal had won it 2-1.

| Match | Date | Result | |---|---|---| | 1st T20I | 27 Sep 2025 | Nepal won by 19 runs | | 2nd T20I | 29 Sep 2025 | Nepal won by 90 runs (WI all out 83) | | 3rd T20I | 30 Sep 2025 | West Indies won by 10 wickets | | Series | — | Nepal won 2-1 |

Setting the record straight: the 2024 near-miss

Many fans, when they hear "Nepal almost beat the West Indies," are actually thinking of a different, equally famous match — and it is worth getting this right.

At the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, Nepal produced a heart-stopping performance, losing by a single run. But that match was against South Africa, played on 14 June 2024 in Kingstown, when Nepal fell agonisingly short of a small target after a last-ball run-out. Nepal did not face the senior West Indies team at that tournament.

The West Indies connection in 2024 was different: West Indies A toured Nepal in April and May 2024 for a series of matches as part of Nepal's World Cup preparation. Those games were valuable experience, but a development side is not the same as the full national team. Keeping these threads separate is the difference between an accurate account and a muddled one — and the genuine, fully documented breakthrough against the senior West Indies came in 2025, not 2024.

Why the upset mattered

Beyond the scorecard, the 2025 series carried real weight for several reasons.

• It was a first. No Associate-versus-Full-Member result resonates quite like a maiden series win, and Nepal's came against former world champions.
• It set records. Bowling out a Full Member for 83 and winning by 90 runs are not narrow, fluky margins — they are statement performances.
• It validated a generation. Nepal's rise from the lower divisions to beating West Indies vindicated years of investment, passionate fan support, and a golden crop of players.
• It shifted perceptions. Results like this strengthen the case for more fixtures between Associates and Full Members, which is exactly the exposure emerging nations need.

For visitors, this is a lovely thread of modern Nepali culture to be aware of. Cricket sits alongside festivals and food as something locals love to talk about, and mentioning the West Indies series is a guaranteed way to spark a warm conversation in Kathmandu.

Nepal's bowling did the damage

The headline of the series was Nepal's bowling. Defending modest totals and then dismissing a powerful batting side for 83 demanded discipline, variety and nerve. Spin was central to that effort, with leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane — Nepal's most accomplished bowler and a familiar name on the global franchise circuit — part of an attack that simply outthought the West Indies batters in Sharjah conditions.

It was a fitting way to win. Nepal's identity as a cricket team has long been built on spin and street-smart, fearless cricket rather than raw power, and the 2025 series was that identity rewarded on the biggest stage the team had yet reached.

Where the rivalry stands

Because the two nations had never met at senior level before 2025, the head-to-head is young: Nepal lead the senior T20I record 2-1 from that single series, with no ODIs played between them as of mid-2026. That makes the rivalry less a long history and more a single, spectacular announcement — Nepal serving notice that they can beat the very best on their day.

Whether and when the sides meet again will depend on scheduling, but the appetite is clearly there. For an Associate nation, fixtures against Full Members are gold dust, and after 2025 the West Indies know Nepal cannot be taken lightly.

The bottom line

Nepal vs West Indies is proof that the gap between cricket's established powers and its ambitious Associates is narrowing fast. In September 2025, Nepal beat a two-time world champion in a full T20I series, bowled them out for 83, and won by 90 runs — landmark numbers that belong in the record books. Pair that with the correct memory of the 2024 one-run thriller against South Africa, and you have the accurate, evergreen story of a tiny cricketing nation that, for three days in Sharjah, stood taller than almost anyone expected. To put Nepal's broader sporting rise in context, see our overview of the Nepal vs UAE rivalry, the contest that first took Nepal to the Asia Cup.

Sources

• Nepal topple West Indies for their first-ever win against a Full Member, 1st T20I report — ESPNcricinfo
• Nepal send out shockwaves beating West Indies 2-0, 2nd T20I report — ESPNcricinfo
• Nepal v West Indies T20I Series 2025, fixtures and results — ESPNcricinfo
• Nepal celebrates historic cricket win over former champions West Indies — Al Jazeera
• South Africa beat Nepal by 1 run, T20 World Cup 2024 match report — ESPN
• West Indies A cricket team in Nepal in 2024 — Wikipedia