Kathmandu – Netherlands Cricket team defeated Nepal by 18 runs and clinched the four-match series (3-0) with one game to spare at Hazelaarweg, Rotterdam.
Netherlands 149/6 (20) defeated Nepal 131/9 (20) by 18 runs
Netherlands batted first in three successive match and what else their Opener again looked impressive. Stephan Myburgh stayed at the crease till the final ball of the inning scoring 71 off 56 balls with 5 fours 2 sixes and a strike rate of 126.78. Debutant Rahil Ahmed (13) opened the inning with him and was the first wicket of Karan KC (c & b) in 6.1 overs. Ben Cooper came at the crease and smashed a six before the off spin from Sagar Pun dismissed him for 8(7). Nepal brought two changes – Sagar Pun and Shakti Gauchan in the playing XI replacing Rajesh Pulami and Avinash Karn.
Wesley Barresi became the victim of Gauchan for run a ball 14 runs. He was stumped, leaving the dutch side 74/3 in 11.1 overs. Skipper Peter Borren played a cameo thrashing Nepalese bowlers 19 off 9 balls with two boundaries and a six before Basant Regmi dismissed him. Stephan Myburgh at the other end was in a great touch with bat once again. Timm van der Gugten smashed one four and a six in his 5 ball inning to guide his team to respective 149/6 in their 20.0 overs.
Nepal used the service of three spinners, Sagar Pun (4-0-24-1), Shakti Gauchan (4-0-30-1) and Basant Regmi (4-0-29-1) in today’s match. Likewise, Karan KC was used only for three overs. He was the pick of the bowlers (3-0-24-2) taking two wickets for Nepal. Sompal Kami was wicketless but bowler exceptionally well in the last over of the inning.
Meanwhile, during the chase, Nepal lost their opener Sagar Pun early. He was run out for 5(6). Nepal’s opening combination flopped once again and has been a headache for the team management. It was all upto the top order and middle order batters to take responsibility and play a matured inning to win the match and stay in the series but that didn’t happen again.
Lowest Averages in Nepalese team
| Mat | Inn | No | Runs | HS | Avg. | |
| Binod Bhandari | 7 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 2.80 |
| Naresh Budhayair | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 3.50 |
| Sagar Pun | 5 | 5 | 0 | 40 | 13 | 8.00 |
| Rajesh Pulami | 3 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 13 | 4.66 |
| Pradeep Airee | 3 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 18 | 8.00 |
Gyanendra Malla got the start and threw his wicket away. He was caught by the keeper for 17 (19). He smashed three fours before the dismissal. Skipper Paras Khadka came at the crease and started to make some runs but as he was looking for big, lost his wicket while stealing a second run. He contributed 36 off 28 balls and scored two boundaries. He and Sharad Vesawkar (24) contributed the highest partnership (48) of the match for the fifth wicket. Earlier, Opener Subash Khakurel and Binod Bhandari struggled for 14 (27) and 1(7) respectively.
Pradeep Airee, even emulate dilscoop to find boundaries in the penultimate over but was dismissed for 18(9). He managed three boundaries and the last over by Ahsan Malik stopped Nepal from chasing the target. He grabbed three wickets of Airee, Basanta Regmi (0) and Sompal Kami (3). Nepal was 18 runs short to lost the series by 0-3.
Malik was the pick of the bowlers for Netherlands taking four wickets (4-0-21-4). Borren, Seelar and Schelven shared wicket apiece.
Nepal will take on the host in the final match on Friday at Rotterdam.
