KATHMANDU, JUNE 5
Nepal succumbed to a six-wicket defeat at the hands of the Netherlands in their opening group fixture of the ongoing T20 World Cup in Texas, USA, on Tuesday.
Chasing a meagre target of 107 runs for victory, the Dutch made light work of the Nepali bowlers, achieving the total with six wickets in hand and eight balls to spare in their alloted 20 overs.
Man-of-the-match Tim Pringle's impressive figures of 3/20 and Max O'Dowd's composed, unbeaten 54 guided the Dutch to a convincing victory over Nepal in front of a full house Grand Prairie Stadium.
Defending a modest total, the Nepali bowlers strove valiantly to take the game down to the wire despite receiving no support from the fielders, who dropped several crucial catches. The adage "catches win matches" did not hold true for Nepal today.
Sompal Kami provided Nepal with a dream start by dismissing opener Michael Levitt, caught by Dipendra Singh Airee in the second over. However, Kami himself dropped Vikramjit Singh off Avinash Bohara's bowling before Dipendra trapped Singh leg before for 22 runs off 28 balls, which included four boundaries.
As the Netherlands began to cruise, Kami was reintroduced into the attack and managed to run out Sybrand Engelbrecht off his own bowling from a fierce strike by Max O'Dowd at the non-striker's end.
Avinash Bohara then bowled Dutch skipper Scott Edwards, pulling Nepal back into the game with the Netherlands at 80/4 in the 16th over, needing 27 runs off 28 balls.
As the Dutch marched towards victory, Rohit Kumar Paudel dropped a straightforward catch of Max O'Dowd off Sompal Kami's bowling with 16 runs required at a run-a-ball.
After this reprieve, Max O'Dowd reached his milestone of 50 runs and, in the following overs, comfortably guided his team to victory.
Sompal Kami, Abinash Bohara and Dipendra Singh Airee took a wicket each in the losing cause.
Earlier, capitalizing on overcast conditions, the Netherlands opted to bowl and efficiently restricted Nepal to a mere 106 all out in the 19th over of their allotted 20 overs.
Exploiting the overcast conditions, Dutch bowlers maintained a probing line and length, testing Nepali batters before dismantling them. Aarif Sheikh fell early, caught by Kingma off Pringle in the 2nd over. Van Beek then dismissed Kushal Bhurtel with the score at 15. Skipper Rohit Paudel fought valiantly, scoring 35 runs off 37 balls, but was eventually caught at long-on.
Kushal Malla looked promising in the middle, hitting a boundary over the long-on fielder, but perished while trying to replicate the shot, falling for a run-a-ball nine.
Despite Paudel's efforts, Nepal continued to lose wickets, with Dipendra Singh Airee departing soon after, caught by Van Beek off De Leede.
Sompal Kami's promotion in the batting order ended swiftly as he was bowled by van Meekeren for a duck. Lower-order batsmen Gulshan Jha and Karan KC contributed some quick runs, but it was not enough.
Lower-order batsmen Gulshan Jha and Karan KC managed to hit three sixes between them, taking Nepal's total past the 100-mark. Jha and KC contributed 14 and 17 runs, respectively.
Tim Pringle and Logan van Beek took three wickets each, while Paul van Meekeren and Bas de Leede shared four wickets to wrap up Nepal's innings.
With this victory, the Netherlands secured two points, moving into second position behind South Africa, with both teams having 2 points based on net run rate.
During the post-match press conference, Nepal's skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel acknowledged the Dutch bowlers for capitalizing on the early conditions. He added, "We also lacked partnerships in the middle, which was the turning point of the game. Our bowlers performed well today, but they weren't supported by the fielders. It could have been a different game entirely if I hadn't dropped that catch. As a batting unit, if we perform better, we can expect improved results in the upcoming matches."
Similarly, Dutch skipper Edwards commented, "The pitch posed challenges, and our bowlers executed their plans well to restrict Nepal. While we would have preferred to achieve the target earlier, the chase became tricky towards the end. To progress further, we need to maintain consistency in our performances."
In their upcoming group fixture, Nepal is slated to face Sri Lanka at the Central Broward Park in Florida on June 12th.
