Dutch men’s team defeats Nepal in spectacular T20 final
Published at 05 March, 2024The Netherlands have won the T20 final against Nepal in spectacular fashion. In the capital Kathmandu, the Dutch saw the host country make 184 runs, a challenging score. After a lightning start, in which 20-year-old Michael Levitt (54 runs) again played a leading role, Sybrand Engelbrecht kept the scoring pace high. In the closing stages, Timm van der Gugten played a gem of an innings. He remained unbeaten with 21 runs off just five balls and gave the Netherlands the tournament win in the very last over of the game.
With Shariz Ahmad in the team for Aryan Dutt, the Netherlands saw Nepal win the toss and bat first. Bhurtel (20) showed a glimpse of his class, but 'one ramp shot too many' meant his departure (23/1). Asif Sheikh was dropped on a personal score of two. A costly mistake, because with captain Poudel, Sheikh rushed to a partnership of 50 in 27 balls.
Switching to spin didn't lead to the breakthrough; medium pace did. It was 82/2 in the tenth over when Michael Levitt had Poudel (25) caught behind via the bottom of his bat. 'Pad first' was the verdict when Sheikh LBW (b Levitt) went for 47, followed shortly afterwards by Dipendra Singh Airee (128/4/14.3).
A crucial phase began. Would Nepal advance to 200+ or would the Dutch break through the Nepalese middle order? It turned out to be the latter. The two lefthanders Gulshan Jha (34) and Kushal Malla (26) gave the more than 10,000 spectators partly what they had come for, but two catches by Vikram Singh over the top resulted in 168/6. Both wickets were taken by clever bowling from Engelbrecht (2-14).
One over later, Fred Klaassen struck twice: four wickets in eight balls and the Netherlands fully back in the game. A dropped dolly made the final score a bit higher than necessary, 184/8. Four Dutch bowlers took two wickets each; in addition to Engelbrecht, these were Klaassen, Levitt and Van der Gugten.
Innings Netherlands
Michael Levitt was looking forward to having a bat, as evidenced by his pull shot for six on the very first ball of the Dutch innings. The last ball of the first over also disappeared over the boundary. Together with Max O'Dowd, who was struggling with his timing, Levitt speared to 60/0 in the first Powerplay.
The first wicket fell on 83 when O'Dowd (22) was caught at long on. In the same over, left-arm spinner Kushal Malla took the expensive wicket of Michael Levitt (54 off 29). Vikram Singh hit three sixes in a row, wanted a fourth and was dropped by Bhurtel on 21.
The Dutch had to make ten runs per over. Dipendra Singh Airee (1-16) didn't make matters any easier for the Dutch by bowling four economical overs. Vikram (29) was looking for the boundary, but was caught (134/3), as was Scott Edwards (141/4).
Forty runs from the last eighteen balls seemed too much to ask. However, Engelbrecht hit Abinash Bohara for 21 runs in an over and again there was a momentum shift. One ball later a mistimed hit over the top proved fatal for the righthander (48).
Despite these events, the Netherlands - due to the power hitting of Levitt, Engelbrecht and Van der Gugten - had to make only seven runs from the last over. Van der Gugten (21 not out off five balls!) played a gem of an innings and sealed the fate of the home team with a four and a six: a spectacular end (189/6) to a fantastic final.
The T20 series is part of the preparation of the Dutch team for the T20 World Cup, which will be played in June in the United States and the Caribbean.
Watch the match here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiymaTPguEQ
