ICC Cricket World Cup League Two Points Table: Updated standings after Nepal vs Netherlands
Nepal defeated the Netherlands in the second match of the ICC Cricket World Cup League Two by nine wickets on Saturday, February 17, at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. This was Nepal’s first win over the Netherlands in ODI since 2018.
Namibia are still in first place in the points tally with the win over Nepal in the first match of the tournament. They have a Net Run Rate of +1.400. Nepal recorded their first victory on Saturday and are in second place with a Net Run Rate of +0.920. The Netherlands are in third place and have a Net Run Rate of -6.456.
Kushal Bhurtel's brilliance helps Nepal crush the Netherlands in a dominant nine-wicket victory
Nepal elected to bowl after winning the toss against the Netherlands, who didn’t have a great start and lost their first two wickets for 18 runs. Sybrand Engelbrecht and Bas de Leede provided some stability with their partnership of 38 runs for the third wicket.
Both batters were dismissed before the 20th over was completed. Scott Edwards and Noah Croes joined hands post that and added 30 runs for the fifth wicket before Croes was dismissed for 12 runs off 24 deliveries.
The Netherlands lost their next five wickets for just 40 runs and were bundled out for 137 runs in 39 overs. Edwards scored 33 runs off 49 deliveries and was the side's top scorer.
Kusal Bhurtel was the pick of the bowlers for Nepal and took four wickets for 20 runs in seven overs. Lalit Rajbanshi picked two wickets while Sompal Kami and Rohit Paudel dismissed one batter each.
Nepal had a strong start as the openers, Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh added 36 runs for the first wicket. Bhurtel was dismissed in the third over for 28 runs off 11 deliveries. Nepal collected 100 runs in the first 10 overs.
Shekih and Anil Sah went on to score their respective half-centuries. Nepal chased down the target of 138 runs in just 15.2 overs with nine wickets in hand. Vivian Kingma took the sole wicket for the Netherlands.
Bhurtel won the Player of the Match award for his all-round performance.