Five of the Netherlands’ top totals in ODI history: The Netherlands defeated Nepal by seven wickets and advanced to the Super Six of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 on Saturday thanks to a masterful all-around performance.
Max O’Dowd’s brilliant 90 off 75 helped Netherlands chase down a target of 168 in just 27.1 overs after their bowlers had previously dismissed Nepal for 167. Nepal’s dreams of qualifying for the World Cup have been dashed with this defeat.
The Netherlands’ openers exploded after scoring just one run in the first three overs of their chase. Before Vikramjit Singh was bowled by Sandeep Lamichhane (2/60), Max O’Dowd and the pair scored 86 runs off the first 13 overs. O’Dowd was more aggressive than Vikramjit (30), who had three fours and one six to his credit. O’Dowd hit four fours and sixes throughout their partnership. In just 30 balls, he reached fifty.
The Dutch scored 97 runs in the first 15 overs thanks to this fast start. The batting side appeared to be in great control of the chase after losing Wesley Barresi in the 15th over.
O’Dowd and Bas de Leede contributed 62 runs for the third wicket to help Dutch come close to the finish line. Sadly, O’Dowd was bowled by Gulsan Jha in the 27th over and was unable to watch his team win the match.
As the Dutch bowlers hit frequently and held the sub-continental side to a modest total, the Nepal innings never got going.
The Nepali batters faced a challenging new-ball period from Ryan Klein and Logan van Beek of the highest caliber. The two frequently beat the bat by causing the ball to jangle about. At the conclusion of the first powerplay, Nepal had 23 after the loss of Aasif Sheikh.
This cautious beginning was followed by a disastrous decline in which Nepal lost three batters in the span of 21 balls. Vikramjit Singh, who frequently plagued the Nepal hitters with his erratic bounce, took two of these wickets. The innings were then attempted to be stabilized by Rohit Paudel and Kushal Malla.
This didn’t last long since in the 26th over, Malla was defeated by Aryan Dutt. Teja Nidamanaru and Max O’Dowd were both confused when the ball skidded down the ground between the long off and long on regions, but the former was able to make the grab. Paudel then made an effort to give the Nepal innings some initiative by hitting a couple of boundaries and speeding up the scoring.
To leave Nepal at 123 for seven, van Beek went back to account for Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee. The Asian side wasn’t even able to bat out their allowed overs, despite Sandeep Lamichhane (27) throwing his bat about for the next few overs to get some quick runs.
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