The first ever match between the senior men's sides of Nepal and the West Indies had a bright start for Nepal as they took two quick wickets, but reality soon crept in as West Indies recorded a dominant win and put themselves in pole position in Group A of the men's World Cup Qualifier today.

Put into bat at the Harare Sports Club, West Indies lost Kyle Mayers and Johnson Charles within the first 5 overs, with just nine on the board when Charles was dismissed for a duck by Gulsan Jha. Opener Brandon King was joined at this point by his captain Shai Hope, and the pair started the recovery with a 46 run partnership.

That partnership ended when King was out for 32, at which point Hope and Nicholas Pooran took the innings away from Nepal. The pair added 216, just ten short of the record fourth wicket partnership for the West Indies in men's ODIs. Pooran scored 115 from 94 balls before he was caught by Dipendra Singh Airee off his own bowling, whilst Hope eventually scored 132 before he fell in the final over.

The eventual total for the West Indies was 339-7, always going to be a tough task for a Nepal side that has only made over 300 once in ODIs. And with Kushal Bhurtel and Bhim Sharki both out cheaply within the first five overs, a tough chase became - if you'll excuse the obvious Nepal related cliche - a mountain to climb.

But Nepal didn't collapse and very nearly batted out their overs. Aarif Sheikh top scored with 63 with Gulsan Jha contributing 42. A typical late order knock from Karan KC provided some entertainment as he scored 28 from 27 balls before he was the last wicket to fall, two balls from the end.

Nepal's total was 238, a 101 run defeat. Jason Holder was the pick of the West Indies bowlers with 3-34 with Alzarri Joseph, Keemo Paul and Akeal Hosein taking two each.

Both sides will be in action again on Saturday with West Indies playing hosts Zimbabwe and Nepal coming up against the team they played their very first ODI against almost five years ago - the Netherlands.