NED vs NEP | Netherlands prevail in nail-biting tie that goes on till third super over

‌The Netherlands cricket team had the last laugh against Nepal in the Scotland T20 Tri-Series at Titwood in Glasgow on Monday at the end of a thrilling contest which went till the third round of super over to decide the winner. With both teams having nothing to separate between them after two super overs, Nepal lost both their wickets without scoring a run in the third one-over eliminator. The Dutch off-spinner Zach Lion-Cachet accounted for both Nepal batters while Michael Levitt finished the match with a six off the first ball from leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane.

Earlier in the day, the Netherlands had a good start to reach 52/1 at the end of the powerplay after being put in by Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel. However, Lamichhane’s introduction in the seventh over, where he picked up two wickets, changed the course of the match. From 52/1, they slid to 113/6 but Saqib Zulfiqar came up with an entertaining cameo of 25 from 12 balls, including two sixes and a four, to push his side to 152/7. Middle-order batter Teja Niadamanuru top-scored for the Netherlands with 35 off 37 balls while Lamichhane finished with impressive figures of 3/18 in four overs.

In reply, Nepal did not have an ideal start losing two wickets within the third over with the score reading just nine. But skipper Rohit Paudel steadied the ship with a 43-run partnership with opener Kushal Bhurtel (34 off 23). He continued to find boundaries from one end but regular wickets from the other end meant Nepal had a similar slide in the middle phase of the game. Rohit hit three fours and two sixes during his knock of 48 from 35 balls but that was not enough as his side ended at 152/8 pushing the fate of the match to be decided in the super over. Left-arm spinner Daniel Doram was the pick among the Netherlands bowlers with a spell of 3/14 from four overs while Vikramjeet Singh also picked two wickets with his medium pace.

In the two super overs that followed, the sides finished at 19 and 17, respectively, with the umpires forced to go for a third tie-breaker. While Kushal Bhurtel starred for Nepal with two sixes and a four in his five-ball 18 in the first eliminator, Max O’Dowd responded with 12 off three balls hitting a six and a four. In the second super over, it was Netherlands that batted first with captain Scott Edwards and O’Dowd hitting a six each as Nepal matched the tally again with two sixes and a four. And the game finally had a result in the third iteration with Nepal failing to open their account.