Last ball decides Nepal vs Netherlands in favour of the Dutch
Published at 28 February, 2024Netherlands have narrowly won the first T20I in Nepal against the host country. The Dutch put up a challenging total of 184 runs. Nepal came very close, had to hit the very last ball of the game for four runs for the win, but failed to do so. The Netherlands won by a minimal margin of two runs. Roelof van der Merwe was the matchwinner with two wickets.
Nepal won the toss and opted to field first. After a few overs, Michael Levitt cut loose with fours and sixes over long off and through the covers. Many changes of bowling was the motto, resulting in two economical overs. Levitt picked himself up and reached his 50 off 31 balls with a monstrously big six over long on. He was dropped on 53, but then could only add one more run to the score; He was stumped off a wide (76/2/8.5).
Scott Edwards (33 off 16 balls) and Sybrand Engelbrecht (49 not out) raced to 100/2/11. Their lightning-fast running resulted in Edwards' narrow run out (123/3/13). Teja Nidamanuru (31) was run out on the very last ball. This brought the Dutch final score to 184. Dipendra Singh Airee bowled well, 0-20 in his four overs.
Innings Nepal
It was important to dismiss the dangerous Kushal Bhurtel quickly and that's exactly what Viv Kingma did, with a fantastic outswinger. However, Asif Sheikh and Rohit Poudel raced to a partnership of 50 in 31 balls with strike rates of around 200.
After a long time, Timm van der Gugten could be seen in action again. He was unlucky when Sheikh saw a leading edge land in no man's land. A ball from Van der Merwe went millimetres over Poudel's midstump.
At this stage, the requested run rate was almost ten per over. The crafty Van der Merwe once again proved invaluable when he tempted Sheikh (34) to come out of his crease. Edwards did the rest: 65/2.
Without bench players Fred Klaassen and Shariz Ahmad, medium pacer Michael Levitt and offspinner Sybrand Engelbrecht (2-13) were used as bowlers. The latter with success; a catch by Nidamanuru at backward point meant 97/3, and with a catch by Edwards, Engelbrecht also took the wicket from top scorer Poudel. Nepal was anything but without a chance at 120/4, especially after two expensive overs that brought Nepal within fifteen runs of victory.
Van der Merwe bowled the final over. Dipendra Singh Airee hit him for 4 and 6, making an impressive 63 (34), but Van der Merwe took the crucial wicket with his fourth ball. The final ball of the match had to go for four, but Van der Merwe's experience won.
The matches can be followed live on youtube. Search for Nepal T20I Triangular Series
