KATHMANDU, March 5: Despite a valiant effort, Nepal fell short of clinching the T20I triangular series title at home ground. The Netherlands defeated Nepal by four wickets in the final match held at the TU International Cricket Ground.

The Netherlands chased down the 185-run target with 3 balls remaining in the match.

Michael Levitt of the Netherlands scored a half century. Levitt scored 54 runs off 29 balls with the help of 6 fours and 3 sixes.

Sybrand Engelbrecht missed his half-century by 2 runs. He hit 4 fours and 3 sixes in 29 balls and scored 48 runs.

In a match that was competitive until the last over, the Netherlands won by achieving a target of 185 runs in 19.3 overs.

Although Kushal Malla took 4 wickets for Nepal, he could not stop the victory of the Netherlands. Similarly, Avinash Bohra and Dipendra Singh Airee took one wicket each.

After winning the toss and batting first at the TU International Cricket Ground, Nepal scored 184 runs losing 8 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

While posting a challenging target, opener Aasif Sheikh contributed 47 runs off 37 balls, Gulshan Jha 34 runs off 25 balls, Kushal Malla 26 runs off 11 balls, captain Rohit Paudel 25 runs off 19 balls and Kushal Bhurtel contributed 20 runs off 10 balls.

After the 18th over of Nepal’s innings, the Nepali team found themselves in a position to add only a few more runs. Nepal lost four wickets within the span of just eight balls. Kushal Malla was dismissed on the first ball of the 18th over, followed by Karan KC on the last ball. Then, Gulshan Jha fell on the first ball of the 19th over and Aasif Sheikh on the second ball.

Kushal Malla, who added to the excitement by hitting three consecutive sixes in the 17th over, saw his innings cut short as Nepal’s fifth wicket fall. Malla contributed 26 runs off 11 balls before getting out.

Nepal lost its fourth wicket when Dipendra Singh Airee departed easily.

Similarly, Nepal lost its third wicket when Aasif Sheikh departed scoring 47 runs, fell short of a half-century. Sheikh departed after contributing 47 runs in 37 balls.

At the end of the 12th over, while Sheikh was batting on a personal score of 46 runs, Jha was contributing to the Nepal’s innings with 18 runs.

The team lost its second wicket when Nepal's captain Rohit Paudel departed after scoring only 25 runs, followed by Kushal Bhurtel’s departure for 20 runs, marking Nepal’s first wicket loss.

In bowling, Fred Klaassen, Timm van der Gugten, Michael Levitt and Sybrand Engelbrecht took 2 wickets each for the Netherlands.

Earlier, with 5 points from 4 games, the Netherlands had secured their spot in the final, while Nepal closely followed in second place with 4 points. Namibia's third-place finish with 3 points has eliminated them from the final contention.

 
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