The Netherlands progressed to the Super Sixes with a seven wickets victory which knocked Nepal out of the World Cup qualifying tournament in Harare on Saturday.
The Dutch win also confirms West Indies and Zimbabwe’s progress into the next stage.
Nepal faced the Netherlands in a crucial match, but their batting performance was subpar, and they were dismissed for 167 runs. This downfall began during the middle overs and was instigated by Vikramjit Singh and continued by Logan van Beek.
In the third over, van Beek dismissed Aasif Sheikh, who was caught behind. However, Kushal Bhurtel and Bhim Sharki managed to stabilize Nepal’s innings.
Bhurtel confidently played a cut shot for four and punched one through mid-on for three when Vikramjit came on to bowl. But Vikramjit soon found his rhythm, drying up the runs and subsequently dismissing Bhurtel and Aarif Sheikh in the 15th and 17th overs, respectively.
This unfortunate series of events caused Nepal’s score to plummet from 46 for 1 to a precarious 91 for 5 from which they couldn’t recover.
Vikramjit’s deliveries, which offered extra bounce and seam movement, led to the dismissals of Bhurtel (caught behind) and Aarif (caught at gully). Sharki, who initially faced the new ball, started aiming for boundaries after Bhurtel’s wicket. However, his luck ran out when he mistimed a shot, resulting in a catch at point.
Kushal Malla showed his characteristic positivity by hitting the first six of the game when he slog-swept Floyd over midwicket in the 21st over. Unfortunately, his aggressive approach didn’t work against Aryan Dutt, who bowled two consecutive maiden overs and later induced Malla to mistime a shot to long-off.
Nepal’s captain, Rohit Paudel, took on Aryan in the 29th over, scoring a six and a four. This prompted van Beek’s return and the full implementation of the short-ball tactic. Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee both fell to the pull shot within two overs.
Despite Sandeep Lamichhane’s efforts to improvise and open up gaps in the field and Gulsan Jha’s attempts to work the ball around, resulting in a steady 32-run partnership for the eighth wicket, the bouncers ultimately led to the downfall of Nepal’s innings. This time, it was de Leede who dismissed Jha and Karan KC in the 42nd over. Lamichhane managed a couple of streaky boundaries but also fell victim to the pull shot. He was the last man out, and Nepal’s innings concluded with 33 balls remaining.
In response, the Netherlands began their modest chase confidently. Max O’Dowd adopted a clear strategy: get into position and target the spinners on the leg side. He effectively swept and pulled Lalit Rajbanshi, Lamichhane, and Airee, allowing the Netherlands to reach 58 without loss at the end of the first powerplay.
Vikramjit provided solid support, and even though he was lbw to Lamichhane in the 13th over, the Netherlands had already made significant progress with an 86-run opening partnership.
A minor slowdown occurred when Lamichhane dismissed Wesley Barresi for attempting a reverse sweep, but the new batsman, de Leede, settled in, and together with O’Dowd, they rotated the strike and found regular boundaries, bringing the Netherlands closer to victory.
With just ten runs left to win, O’Dowd was dismissed for 90 by Jha. Although he missed out on what could have been his first ODI century, the Netherlands easily secured a seven-wicket victory with 137 balls remaining.
Brief Score: Netherlands 168 for 3 (O’Dowd 90, de Leede 41*, Lamichhane 2-60) beat Nepal 167 (Paudel 33, van Beek 4-24, Vikramjit 2-20) by seven wickets.
Man of the Match: Max O’Dowd
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