Sports
Nepal win first ODI in last-over thriller
Nepal secured a historic victory in their first-ever One Day International (ODI) Series beating the Netherlands by one run in a last over thriller to level the two-match affair 1-1 at the VRA Grounds in Amstelveen on Friday.Adarsha Dhakal
Nepal secured a historic victory in their first-ever One Day International (ODI) Series beating the Netherlands by one run in a last over thriller to level the two-match affair 1-1 at the VRA Grounds in Amstelveen on Friday.
Electing to bat first, Nepal made 216 all out in 48.5 overs after skipper Paras Khadka and Sompal Kami made half centuries. After dismissing top scorer Wesley Barresi Nepal sniffed victory reducing Netherlands to 185-9 in 43.3 overs before the last wicket pair of Fred Klaassen and Paul van Meekeren almost pulled off the thriller.
Needing six runs to win from the last over bowled by Khadka, Klaassen took a single in the first ball before Van Meekeren played a dot in the second. Meekeren scampered for a single in the third ball and the Dutch needed two to win from the last two when Klaassen managed a couple in the fourth. Khadka kept a dot in fifth ball and in the dramatic last ball Klaassen hit straight to the stumps and ran for a single which could have at least tied the match. But Khadka uprooted the stumps to create history.
In defence of a challenging total, Kami gave Nepal a dream start bowing opener Stephan Myburgh in the first over for duck. Seamer Bhandari got his first ODI wicket removing Ben Cooper (19) after Rohit Kumar Paudel took an excellent diving catch. Barresi and another opener Daniel ter Braak kept Netherlands in the match with an 84-run third wicket stand. Leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane brought Nepal back into the match removing Ter Braak and Bas de Leede (duck) in a single over.
Ter Braak made 39 off 83 balls with two boundaries. Veteran left arm spinner Basanta Regmi joined the act dismissing Wednesday’s man-of-the-match Michael Rippon (three) cheaply. Dipendra Singh Airee struck at the right time to remove Barresi, reducing Dutch to 143-6 as Nepal sniffed victory. Barresi scored 71 off 89 balls hitting eight boundaries.
Bhandari got his second wicket, trapping Scott Edwards (nine) leg before wicket. Skipper Khadka then had Seelar (21) caught by Gyanendra Malla and Lamichhane bowled Shane Snater (12) reducing the hosts to 185-9 in 43.3 overs. The Dutch’s last pair of Klaassen (13) and Van Meekeren (12) stuck to the crease with a 30-run last wicket stand that pushed the game to final over.
Nepal handed debut ODI cap to Subash Khakurel, Rohit Kumar Paudel and Lalit Singh Bhandari and the former opened the innings with Gyanendra Malla giving a 29-run first wicket stand. Malla, who hit a half century in the first match which Nepal lost by 55 runs, scored 13 before Fred Klassen had him caught by Wesley Barresi. Klassen ripped through the Nepali top order, removing Anil Sah (four) and Subash Khakurel (19) to make 47-3 in 11.1 overs.
Dipendra Singh Airee and Khadka tried to stem the run flow with the former particularly playing with grit. But a terrible mix-up led to run out of Airee, who hit a 17-ball 19 with three fours. Rippon then removed Paudel to reduce Nepal to 88-5 inside 20 overs. Khadka and Aarif Sheikh put on 47 runs for the sixth wicket. Khadka completed his maiden ODI half century off 65 balls with a six off Pieter Seelar in the 31st over.
But the skipper departed in the last ball of the same over after spinner Seelaar enticed him for another hit only to scoop the ball at short square leg to Shane Snater. Khadka scored 51 from 69 balls with six boundaries and two sixes. Nepal, however, were left reeling at 163-8 in 39.4 overs after they lost Sheikh (six) and Basanta Regmi (one) in quick succession. But Kami rescued Nepal sharing 41 runs for the ninth wicket in a partnership that saw Sandeep not scoring a single run.
Kami completed his half century in 38 balls to notch Nepal’s fastest ODI half century. Kami was out in the 46th over after making 61 from off balls, his innings studded with five fours and three sixes. Klaassen took 3-38 from 10 overs, while Rippon and Seelar had two wickets apiece.
Past Meetings
2014 World Cup Qualifers
Netherlands (172-3 in 31.5 overs) beat Nepal (171-9 in 50 overs) by seven wickets
2015 ICC Div 2
Nepal (159-8 in 49.3 overs) beat Netherlands (158-10 in 49.5 overs) by two wickets
2016 World Cricket League (WCL) Championship
Netherlands (96-3 in 16.5 overs) beat Nepal (94-10 in 38.1 overs) by seven wickets
2016 WCL Championship
Nepal (217-9 in 50 overs) beat Netherlands (198-10 in 48.3 overs) by 19 runs
2018 World Cup Qualifier
Netherlands (189-9 in 50 overs) beat Nepal (144-10 in 44.4 overs) by 45 runs
2018 ODI Series, August 1
Netherland (189-10 in 47.4 overs) beat Nepal 134-10 in 41.5 overs) by 55 runs
Summary
Nepal 216 in 48.5 overs (S Kami 61, P Khadka 51; F Klaassen 3-38, M Rippon 2-46) beat Netherlands 215 (W Barresi 71, D ter Braak 39; S Lamichhane 3-41, L Bhandari 2-43, S Kami 1-41) by one run
Man-of-the-match: S Kami