Kathmandu, August 13
The Netherlands have crushed Nepal’s national squad by nine wickets in the first of the two-match series between the two teams in the World Cricket League.
Nepal, historically considered a ‘chasing’ side, were put into bat by the hosts after winning the toss. Openers Anil Mandal, who made 20, and Gyanendra Malla looked confident early on against the Dutch pacers, but after they were out, Nepali batsmen could put up little resistance against the disciplined bowling display the hosts put up to make the Nepali batsmen put an effort into taking every single run.
Gyanendra Malla made 11 in 12 balls before being bowled out by the fiery spinner van der Gugten. In at number three, Sharad Vesawkar occupied the crease at one end when wickets kept tumbling at the other end. He was set to break the shackles in the 32nd over but got out going after Bukhari down leg side. He played 71 balls for his 14.
Nepal’s skipper Paras Khadka got out LBW on a duck off van der Merwe.
A target of 95 runs never looked enough for the home side. They cruised to victory with the loss of three wicket in 16.5 overs. Mayburgh hit Sandeep Lamichhane for four for the winning runs.
The next match is on Monday.
