Kathmandu- Nepal lost to the Netherlands by 3 wickets in the match held today under the Tri-nation T20 cricket series. In the match held at TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, the hosts failed to defend a very challenging total of 206 runs.
Batting first after winning the toss, Nepal played out its full quota of 20 overs to post 206 runs on the board, at the loss of 6 wickets. Opener Kushal Bhurtel continued his fine form, scoring his third century in as many matches. He had debuted with a century in the first match against the same opponent.
Kushal scored 62 runs in 46 balls while Dipendra Singh Aiyer scored 60 in 30 balls. Likewise, Sompal Kami, captain Gyandendra Malla and Kushal Malla contributed 21, 20 and 18 runs respectively. For the Dutch team, Pieter Seelaar and Vivian Kingma took 2 wickets each.
In reply, the Netherlands surpassed the Nepali total in 19.3 overs at the loss of 7 wickets. Bas de Leede and Ben Cooper scored 89 and 55 runs respectively to take their team home, and avenge the defeat in the inaugural match. Nepal had defeated the Netherlands by 9 wickets in the opening match of the series. Leede also won the man-of-the-match award.
Star leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane took 4 wickets for Nepal while Karan KC, Abinash Bohara and Kushal Malla took one wicket reach.
This is Nepal’s first loss in the series, after winning the first two matches against the Netherlands and Malaysia, with an equal margin of 9 wickets.
