Kathmandu, February 28
Nepal suffered another home defeat after being beaten in a thriller as the Netherlands beat the hosts by two runs during the Tri-nation T20 Series at the TU Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
Winning the toss and choosing to field first, Nepal started the game positively sending back Max O’Dowd early. But that proved to be the only saving grace as the Netherlands batters, particularly Michael Levitt and Sybrand Engelbrecht supported by Scott Edwards and Teja Nidamanuru batted brilliantly taking the visitors to a respectable total of 184 in the allotted 20 overs.
In reply, like against Namibia on Tuesday, Nepal lost their opener Kushal Bhurtel for a duck in the very first over. A 65-run second-wicket partnership between Aasif Sheikh and Rohit Paudel looked to control the game for Nepal but a flurry of wickets meant the hosts were in a spot of bother.
Dipendra Singh Airee’s aggressive hitting took the game close but the Netherlands’s Roelof van der Merwe held his nerves to give his team the win.
