Image Credit- AP
In the second round of the six-match trilateral
series, hosts Nepal stunned top-seeded Netherlands with an incredible ambush,
bouncing back from Thursday’s loss to Namibia in the CWC League 2 opener. The
home top order struck quickly after the visitors were skittled for just 137
thanks to an almost flawless job with the ball.
To put the Dutch in complete disarray, Kushal Bhurtel
followed up his four wickets with an explosive 28-run innings. After that,
Nepal stormed to a nine-wicket victory in just 16 overs with to twin fifties
from Aasif Sheikh and Anil Sah, handing the Dutch their second-heaviest-ever
ODI loss with balls remaining.
Sompal Kami’s aggressive opening session put the Dutch
on the back foot from the off, as he removed Michael Levitt, the match’s third
ball, and the pressure quickly resulted in the first of three run-outs, with a
ball-watching Max O’Dowd being sent off on the final ball of the sixth over.
Although Sybrand Engelbrecht and Bas de Leede
attempted to recover, the Dutch were only able to muster a 38-run stand. Both
of them were dismissed by Lalit Rajbanshi, the latter of whom took the top off
the stump with the ball of the match so far, ripping it from leg. Skipper Scott
Edwards attempted to salvage something with the lower order, but Bhurtel’s more
potent play would keep him stranded in front for 33, and his increasingly
impressive legspin delivered figures of 4-20 as the tail folded quickly.
In the second over, Bhurtel launched a blitz against
Aryan Dutt, taking the ball for three boundaries off his first four deliveries.
In the following over, he top-edged Kingma for a 10-ball 28. While Sheikh and
Sah were going after the bowlers, Kingma may have had one more chance if his
easy catch at 45 had not been shelled, but it was the last chance the Dutch
had.
With barely thirty balls remaining, Anil Sah reached
his half-century and hit his fourth six of the innings, smashing Dutt over
midwicket. The game had already ended by that point, and Sheikh quickly reached
fifty as well, both of them easily crossing the finish line with 208 balls
remaining.