Nepal have earned the reputation now of bringing utmost chaos into their matches which they look like winning after the completion of 80-85% of the game itself in the middle. The 2nd ODI against Netherlands was no different as they snatched a dramatic 1 run victory of the final delivery of the 50th over to deny Fred Klassen and Paul van Meekeren the unlikely heroic finish to their frantic 10th wicket partnership which brought Nepali audiences hearts in their mouths in the final 30-45 mins of action from VRA cricket ground in Amstelveen.
Cometh the hour, cometh the Skipper!! Nepal captain Paras Khadka was in the thick of action yet again as he bowled the final over in the Netherlands innings and with 2 runs required by the Dutch of the final delivery, the shot was hit back straight to Paras, who got a touch onto the ball as it hit the wickets at the non-striker’s end. The batsmen had no other option but to go for the run but Paras showed equal poise at the heat of the moment to run to the stumps and uproot it with his hands to effect the run-out and literally run on the whole ground in jubilation as the whole of Nepal went wild into celebrations for their historic achievement.
Not that this should have been let to happen from where Netherlands were when they had lost their 9th wicket in their chase of 216 set by Nepal batting first. But then, this is Nepal that we are talking about. They never make it easy for themselves, do they??
Two half-centuries saved Nepal the blushes in their batting blunders committed earlier in the day. A knock of 51 runs by Paras Khadka brought all cheers while he was at the crease but to let go only after reaching the milestone is so typical Khadka style these days. The whole nation of Nepal will be forever indebted to what followed thereafter and saw Sompal Kami show the entire batting line-up how it’s done and went onto make the highest ever individual score made by a Nepali batsman in an ODI by making the most valuable 61 runs, that took Nepal to their eventual total of 216, before getting all-out in the 49th over.
The match was looking to go out of Nepal’s hands when a 84-runs partnership between Daniel ter Braak (39 off 83) and Wesley Barresi (71 off 89) looked threatening but Sandeep Lamichhane had other ideas for the day as he bowled a crucial spell of 3/41 off his 10 overs brought back his team into the contest.
Lalit Bhandari, Basant Regmi and Dipendra Singh Airee bowled equally crucial spells with a wicket apiece to provide good support to Khadka and Lamichhane and in the end, the rest was history. Nepal have had two memorable and historic days etched in their history books for all generations to follow.
Nepal now move to Asia Cup qualifiers in Malaysia where they get to play a confirmed ODI match against United Arab Emirates; however, Netherlands do not have any more International fixtures set for the remainder of 2018 and now only have the World T20 qualifiers scheduled in 2019 as their next assignment. So much for being part of 13-team ICC ODI league which doesn’t even guarantee few more matches to play till they get there.
