ICC
The Netherlands notched up its fifth victory of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012 when it defeated Nepal by six wickets in a Group A fixture at the ICC GCA Oval 1 on Monday.
Nepal, put into bat, limped to 85 for seven after reaching 24 for four from 10 overs. The Dutch achieved victory for the loss of Michael Swart (16), Stephan Myburgh (15), Wesley Barresi (14) and Alexei Kervezee (14) in 13.5 overs.
The victory means the Dutch will finish either in second or third place in Group A, depending how Tuesday’s matches in Group A pan out. The Netherlands plays Hong Kong in its last match. In contrast, Nepal has stayed on six points after six matches and its progress to the next stage, apart from other results in the group, will also depend how it performances against Denmark in Abu Dhabi.
The two sides that will top their respective groups will feature in the 1st Qualifying Final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on 22 March with the winner sealing a place for the Sri Lanka tournament to be staged from 18 September to 7 October.
The sides that finish second and third in the two groups will play cross-over matches. The two winners will progress to the Preliminary Final to be played on 23 March at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The 2nd Qualifying Final – for the second spot in the ICC World Twenty20 2012 – will take place on the morning of 24 March at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium between the loser of the 1st Qualifying Final and the winner of the Preliminary Final.
A delighted Dutch captain peter Borren later said: “I think Nepal has played some reasonable cricket in this competition, so we weren’t taking them lightly. We bowled pretty well and they were always going to struggle to defend 86.
“It is going to be really difficult for us. The format of the tournament means, having lost to Afghanistan, if you are first in your group you have a huge advantage here.
“We just need to keep playing good cricket. If we win four more games, we will qualify, and if we win five more games, we will win the tournament. We are going in the right direction. In the last two days, we’ve had some pretty convincing wins and I am pretty happy with where we are at.”
Scores in brief
Netherlands beats Nepal by six wickets at ICC GCA Oval 1
Nepal 85-7, 20 overs (Gyanendra Malla 32, Basanta Regmi 20; Michael Swart 2-13)
Netherlands 86-4, 13.5 overs (Basanta Regmi 3-32)
Man of the match Michael Swart (Netherlands)
