Preview | Nepal vs Netherlands

Nepal conceded a 20-run win to Namibia in the series opener at TU International Cricket Ground on Tuesday.

Namibia posted a mammoth 207 runs against Nepal. Nepal has never chased anything above 170 in Twenty20 International, with the highest chase being 166 against Malaysia at TU International Cricket Ground during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier Final last year.

Nepal will be up against the Netherlands on Wednesday in the second match of the series. Both teams have shared four wins among them in nine meetings in Twenty20 International. One match didn’t yield a result.

The Netherlands will be taking the field in the shorter format after 479 days following the famous 13-run win against South Africa in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Adelaide Oval, Australia.

Nepal might rope in their premium spinner, Lalit Rajbhanshi, against the Dutch. The Netherlands have made two changes to their Twenty20 squad. Bas de Leede and Oliver Elenbaas made way for Timm van der Gugten and Fred Klaassen.

Players to Watch Out For:

Nepal’s opening batter, Kushal Bhurtel, has strong numbers against the Dutch side in the Twenty20 International. He has scored 201 runs in 3 innings, with an average of 67 and the highest score of 77 against them in the shortest format.

Rohit Kumar Paudel will be another key man for Nepal. He has collected 445 runs in his last 14 Twenty20 International innings with an average of 49.

Dipendra Singh Airee, Nepal’s leading run scorer in the shorter version of the game, had scored 48 runs against Namibia in the first match, and he must be desperate to make some impactful contributions against the Netherlands.

Maxwell O’Dowd has scored 172 runs in 4 innings at TU International Cricket Ground with an average of 57. He has scored an unbeaten 133 runs against Malaysia at this venue. Apart from this, he is also the leading run scorer for the Netherlands in the format, with 1589 runs in 57 innings.

Karan KC will be a crucial part of Nepal’s bowling group against the Netherlands. He has taken 13 wickets against the opponent in 9 innings.

Milestones:
Kushal Bhurtel is only 85 runs away from becoming the second batter from Nepal to score 1000 runs in Twenty20 international after Dipendra Singh Airee.

Kushal Bhurtel is only 5 hits away from becoming the second batter from Nepal after Dipendra Singh Airee to hit 100 fours in Twenty20 International.

Kushal Malla needs two big hits to become the second batter from Nepal to hit 50 Twenty20 international sixes after Dipendra Singh Airee.

Abinash Bohara will be the fifth Nepali player to appear in 50 Twenty20 international matches after Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Dipendra Singh Airee, and Sandeep Lamichhane.

Karan KC needs two wickets to tie Sandeep Lamichhane as the highest wicket-taker at TU International Cricket Ground in Twenty20 International. Sandeep has taken 31 wickets from 14 matches.