The Netherlands emerged with their first victory against inexperienced Nepal by 6 wickets, in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Netherlands vs Nepal Match Info

Venue	Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Dallas
Date	4th June, Tuesday, 2024
Toss	The Netherlands won the Toss and elected to bowl first.
Match No.	7, Group-D

Netherlands and Nepal reached Dallas for their first encounter at Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Dallas with a capacity of 7000, Grand Prairie is ready to host it’s first International cricket match between NED and Nepal.

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Netherlands vs Nepal Squads

Nepal Squad:: 

Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Anil Sah, Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Abinash Bohara, Sagar Dhakal.

Netherlands Squad::

Michael Levitt, Max ODowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma.

Netherlands vs Nepal: Match highlights & key points

After winning the Toss NED decided to field first as the wickets are very unpredictable. so, Nepal came to bat after playing good shots for two boundaries both openers got out early. Tim Pringle and Van Beek picked up two early wickets for NED. 

The skipper Rohit Paudel & Anil Sah built a small partnership in between

As this match progressed it seemed very difficult for batters to score runs. But Rohit and Anil try their best to stand out and score runs for the team. Apart from this Tim Pringle was in a good rhythm and bowled in good areas made hardel for both batsmen as both of them got out by Tim. 

In 7.4 overs Anil dragged the off-sided ball for a swipe but did not seem in control and with a big top-edged end of his innings.

After hitting five fours everyone expected Rohit’s first fifty in T20 World Cup. At the end of the 16th, Rohit threw his wicket for an easy catch at long-off. If Rohit could score a fifty in this Netherlands vs Nepal match, he will become the first batsman to score a fifty in the T20 World Cup for Nepal.

Nepla’s hope ends with Karan KC & Gulsan Jha’s wicket

Nepal seemed to score for boundaries in the last 4 overs after Rohit’s wicket Karan & Gulsan gave a boost with a quick 31 runs partnership in the end. Karan became the first batter for Nepal to hit two sixes in the Netherlands vs Nepal match. He became the first batsman to hit the most sixes for Nepal in the T20 World Cup.

Gulsan Jha played a supportive role with him, Gulsan scored 14 runs in 15 balls including 1 six.

Tim, Logan, Paul, and Bas de set the stage for NED’s first victory in T20 World Cup

Tim Pringle, Logan, and the rest of the bowlers from NED bowled very well, everyone gave very less runs with an average eco of 5.70. The best overall bowling performance by any team in T20 World Cup 2024.

Max ODowd’s fifty secured a win for the Netherlands

In the first half when the Grand’s wicket seemed to slow, surprisingly on that same wicket Max Odowd scored 54 in 48 balls including 4 fours and 1 six so far. Max’s unbeatable fifty secured the win for the Netherlands.

Vikramjit Singh played a supportive innings and also had a score of 22 in 28 balls including 4 fours.

Netherlands vs Nepal: Poor bowling by Nepal’s bowlers

Despite a slow surface, Nepla’s bowlers did not execute their plans. Though the first wicket boosted their confidence level a bit, failed to maintain a good lien & length.

Abinash Bohara gave the most runs 29 in his 3.4 overs, though he managed to pick a wicket with an economy of 7.90.

Netherlands vs Nepal Scorecard

Nepal Innings

BATSMAN	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	Strike Rate
Kushal Bhurtel	7	10	1	0	70.00
Aasif Sheikh	4	8	1	0	50.00
Anil Sah	11	12	2	0	91.67
Rohit Paudel	35	37	5	0	94.59
Rohit Paudel	9	9	1	0	100.00
Dipendra Singh	1	6	0	0	16.67
Sompal Kami	0	5	0	0	0.00
Gulsan Jha	14	15	0	1	93.33
Karan KC	17	12	0	2	141.67
Sagar Dhakal	0	1	0	0	0.00
Abinash Bohara	0	1	0	0	0.00

BOWLERS	Runs	Wickets	Overs
Kingma	23	0	4
Tim Pringle	20	3	4
Van Beek	18	3	3.2
Meekeren	19	2	4
Bas De Leede	22	2	4

Netherlands Innings

BATSMAN	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	Strike Rate
Michael Levitt	1	3	0	0	33.33
Max ODowd*	54	48	4	1	112.50
Vikramjit Singh	22	28	4	0	78.57
Sybrand Engelbrecht	14	16	1	0	87.50
Scott Edwards	5	8	0	0	62.50
Bas de Leede	11	10	1	0	110.00

BOWLERS	Runs	Wickets	Overs
Karan KC	17	0	3
Sompal Kami	18	1	4
Gulsan Jha	17	0	2
Dipendra Singh Airee	6	1	2
Abinash Bohara	29	1	3.4
Sagar Dhakal	21	0	4

Netherlands vs Nepal: What are the positives and negatives?

Undoubtedly the wicket was slow but on the same wicket, NED batters batted well. So, there could a be batting weakness for Nepal. Secondly, Nepal bowlers could hit the good areas and conceded more runs compared to NED bowlers on the same pitch.
After the first defeat questions arise about the Captaincy of Nepal. Rohit Paudel doing captaincy for the first time in this T20 World Cup, so it wouldn’t be easy for him either. But one could never forget the basics like he could use another bowler instead of Abinash Bohara, as he was expensive in the Netherlands vs Nepal match.
The Netherlands won the match by overpowering Nepal. An interesting fact is if Nepal could have batted in the 2nd innings result might have been different. If we look closely at the NED batters also struggled a lot to cross the target, in 18.4 overs they finished the game. So, in terms of batting NED was average throughout the match.
Hope both teams will work on their weakness for the upcoming matches in the T20 World Cup 2024.
 

Night and day, Kathmandu to Dallas, Nepal fans across the world 🇳🇵🌏#T20WorldCup | 📸 KTM image: Nepal Press pic.twitter.com/0LVgpZp5Cy

— ICC (@ICC) June 5, 2024