Levitt shines but Nepal holds nerves in tight chase
Michael Levitt continued his impressive run with another explosive knock, smashing 86 off 53 balls against Nepal in the T20I tri-series on Thursday. Despite his heroics, Netherlands couldn’t defend 174 as Nepal chased the target with six wickets in hand and just two balls to spare. Levitt had also scored 90 earlier in the series against Scotland.
Netherlands struggled early after being put into bat, slumping to 45 for 4 in the powerplay. Levitt, however, counterattacked with a flurry of boundaries, notching up his fifty in just 20 deliveries. He found some support from Saqib Zulfiqar in a 63-run partnership, before Zulfiqar was stumped for 14 by Sandeep Lamichhane. Karan KC then struck the decisive blow by removing Levitt in the 15th over, just as he was looking to accelerate further.
“𝑳𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒕’𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆,”
said Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards, acknowledging his batter’s efforts. Roelof van der Merwe added some late fireworks with an unbeaten 36 off 21 balls, helping the Dutch post a respectable 174 for 7.
Nepal’s composed chase takes them to the top
Nepal responded with a strong start, scoring 60 in the powerplay while losing just one wicket. Opener Kushal Bhurtel led the charge with a steady 65, while Bhim Sharki chipped in with a brisk 27 off 16. Despite a couple of middle-order setbacks, including the dismissals of Sharki and skipper Rohit Paudel, Nepal remained composed in the chase.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒚𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚,”
said Bhurtel after the match. Aarif Sheikh’s impactful 39 off 23 balls pushed Nepal closer to the target before he retired hurt in the penultimate over. Lokesh Bam then sealed the win with two sixes in the final over.
Nepal take pole position ahead of final fixture
With this win, Nepal now sits atop the points table with four points from three matches. Netherlands, also on four points but with a lower net run rate, are second after completing their league games. The tri-series will conclude with Nepal facing Scotland, who have two points from three games, in what could be a series-deciding clash.
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