Kathmandu (HamroKhelkud) – Nepal have breezed past the Netherlands to register their first win of the new ICC Cricket World Cup League Two cycle. Nepal defeated the recent World Cup magnums by nine wickets to get their first points of the campaign.
Chasing 138-run target given by the Dutch side, Nepal got over the line in 15.2 overs losing just one wicket. Aasif Sheikh and Anil Shah both picked up half-centuries in Nepal’s chase wjhile Kushal Bhurtel gave Nepal a quick start as well.
Anil Sah remained unbeaten on 57 off 36 deliveries with six fours and four sixes while Aasif Sheikh stayed at the other end on 54 off 45, smashing eight boundaries and a six. Kushal Bhurtel made an 11-ball 28 with two fours and three sixes in the process.
Vivian Kingma picked up the only Nepali wicket that fell in the innings.
Earlier, batting first after losing the toss and being invited to bat, Netherlands crumbled against the Nepali bowling lineup, getting packed up for 137 runs in 39 overs.
Skipper Scott Edwards’s 33 off 49 was the highest individual score for the travelling side. Bas de Leede reached 27 runs before getting knocked over by Llait Rajbanshi while Sybrand Engelbrecht’s 23-run innings was also ended by the left-arm off-spinner. Noah Croes made 12, Kyle Klein reached 11 runs while Max O’Dowd and Aryaj Dutt contributed 10 runs each.
Kushal Bhurtel rattled the Dutch batting lineup with four wickets in seven overs. lalit Rajbanshi picked up two wickets while Sompal Kami and Rohit Paudel picked up one wicket each.
The Dutch side will take on Namibia in their second match of the series on Monday. Nepal, who lost by four wickets against the African nation, will return to face them on Wednesday.
