Netherlands beat Nepal to clinch Tri-nation series

Michael Levitt hammered 54 off 29 balls at the top of the order to power Netherlands to a four-wicket win over Nepal in the final of the Nepal Tri-nation T20I Series in Kirtipur on Tuesday (March 5, 2024).

The 20-year-old set up an opening partnership of 83 runs with Max O’Dowd (22) to set the Dutch in chase of the 185-run target, which they achieved in 19.3 overs, reaching 189 for the loss of just six wickets.

Sybrand Engelbrecht made scored 48 off 29 balls in the latter half of the Dutch innings while Vikramjit Singh scored 29 off 23 balls.

Batting first, Nepal scored 184/8 in 20 overs. Wicketkeeper-batsman Aasif Sheikh top-scored with 47 off 37 balls while Gulsan Jha hit 34 off 25 balls. Kushal Malla, who later took 4/33, hit 26 off 11 balls.

Namibia were the third team in the competition.

Each team played the other two sides twice before the final. Netherlands finished on top of the pool with five points in four matches, Nepal followed them with four points and Namibia were third with three points. Both Netherlands and Nepal won two games each while Namibia returned with a solitary win.

Levitt was the top-scorer of the tournament with 247 runs at an average of 61.75 whereas Kushal Malla was the top wicket-taker with seven wickets.

Cricket, T20I, Nepal Tri-nation, Netherlands, T20 Cricket