DALLAS: Opener Max O’Dowd’s sensible half-century after a dominant bowling performance led the Netherlands to beat Nepal by six wickets in the seventh match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
The Netherlands chased down the modest 107-run total with just eight balls to spare as Nepal bowlers forced them to make hard yards with a tight bowling display.
The Dutch had a dismal start to the pursuit as they lost Michael Levitt (1) with just three runs on the board in the second over.
Max O’Dowd then put together important partnerships with Vikramjit Singh and Sybrand Engelbrecht before eventually leading the Netherlands to a hard-fought victory in the penultimate over.
He top-scored for the Netherlands with 54 off 48 deliveries, laced up with five boundaries including a six.
For Nepal, Abinash Bohara, Sompal Kami and Dipendra Singh Airee made one scalp each.
Nepal had a dismal start to their innings as they lost their openers Aasif Sheikh (4) and Kushal Bhurtel (7) inside the batting powerplay with just 15 runs on the board.
Skipper Rohit Paudel and Anil Sah then momentarily anchored the innings with a cautious 25-run partnership.
The duo appeared to have settled down but Tim Pringle breached Sah’s defences and provided a breakthrough to the Netherlands in the eighth over. Sah scored 11 off 12 deliveries.
Sah’s dismissal ignited a middle-order collapse as Nepal lost three more wickets in quick succession and consequently slipped to 66/6 in 13.2 overs.
Meanwhile, Nepal’s batting mainstay Paudel, who waged a lone battle since coming out to bat No.4, finally perished in the 16th over.
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Rohit Paudel remained the top-scorer for Nepal with a gritty 35 off 37 deliveries with the help of five fours.
Following Paudel’s dismissal, tailenders Karan KC and Gulshan Jha added valuable runs for the Asian side at the backend.
Karan and Gulshan knitted a crucial 22-run partnership for the eighth wicket before both perished in quick intervals.
Karan made a brisk 17 off 12 deliveries, hitting two sixes, while Gulshan scored a cautious 14.
Logan van Beek then dismissed Nepal’s No.11 Abinash Bohara on a golden duck to wrap up the Netherlands’ tight bowling display.
For the Netherlands, van Beek and Tim Pringle picked three wickets each while Paul van Meekeren and Bas de Leede claimed two apiece.