Netherlands vs Nepal
Dallas, 10.30am local
Big picture – Netherlands favourites, but only just
There are two obvious groups of death in this T20 World Cup, and Group D is one of them. Netherlands and Nepal are the two lowest-ranked sides in the group, but one of them comes into the tournament with serious pedigree in punching well above their weight at World Cups.
Before they can try and pull off results of that nature against South Africa, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, however, Netherlands will have to get past the one team they are favourites against. And it won’t be easy.
Netherlands have a 6-5 T20I record against Nepal overall, and their six meetings in the pandemic and post-pandemic eras have been dead even. They met three times earlier this year, in a triangular tournament in Kirtipur, and won once apiece in the league stage before Netherlands won a closely fought final.
Netherlands may have been here and done it before, while Nepal have only featured in one previous T20 World Cup, but the results they achieved in that tournament – in 2014, when they beat Afghanistan and fell short of a Super 10s spot only by virtue of net run-rate – should tell you that this could be a seriously tight contest.
Netherlands LLLWW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Nepal LLWWW
In the spotlight – Michael Levitt and Dipendra Airee
Michael Levitt earned his first Netherlands call-up last year, at 19, and has gone on to become a key player at the top of the order since his debut this February. The South Africa-born Levitt has scored 349 runs in eight T20I innings so far, at an average of 43.62 and a strike rate of 156.50. He made Netherlands’ highest T20I score in only his second T20I, smashing 135 off just 62 balls against Namibia, and he comes into this tournament with form behind him too, scoring a 28-ball 55 in the warm-up victory over Sri Lanka.
You probably remember him for scoring the fastest T20I fifty, off just nine balls, against Mongolia during last year’s Asian Games, but Dipendra Singh Airee, Nepal’s highest run-getter in T20Is, has shown his quality against higher-ranked teams too. Netherlands know what he’s capable of; earlier this year, Nepal were six down against them in Kirtipur, needing 57 off 24 balls, when Airee went ballistic. His 34-ball 63 took Nepal to the doorstep of victory, before Roelof van der Merwe bowled him with four runs needed off three balls and Netherlands sealed a two-run win.
Since Levitt’s emergence, Vikramjit Singh has dropped out of Netherlands’ first-choice opening combination. He may bat at No. 3 or 4 if he finds a place in their XI on Tuesday.
Netherlands (probable): 1 Max O’Dowd, 2 Michael Levitt, 3 Vikramjit Singh, 4 Scott Edwards (capt & wk), 5 Teja Nidamanuru, 6 Bas de Leede, 7 Sybrand Engelbrecht, 8 Logan van Beek, 9 Aryan Dutt, 10 Paul van Meekeren, 11 Vivian Kingma
With a visa refusal ending Sandeep Lamichhane’s potential participation in the World Cup, the question of Lalit Rajbanshi’s spin partner becomes highly pertinent. Sagar Dhakal was one of only two Nepal bowlers to complete their four-over quota in their warm-up game against Canada. It suggests that Nepal may be mulling starting the 22-year-old against Netherlands, if they decide to go with two left-arm spinners.
Nepal (probable): 1 Kushal Bhurtel, 2 Aasif Sheikh (wk), 3 Anil Sah, 4 Kushal Malla, 5 Rohit Paudel (capt), 6 Dipendra Singh Airee, 7 Gulsan Jha, 8 Sompal Kami, 9 Karan KC, 10 Lalit Rajbanshi, 11 Abinash Bohara/Sagar Dhakal
Dallas was where this World Cup got underway, and it got underway with a bang, as USA chased down 195 with 14 balls remaining. Twenty-one sixes were hit in that game, ten coming off the blade of Aaron Jones, who smashed an unbeaten, match-winning 94 off 40 balls. Prepare for more big hitting if the conditions remain similar.
The threat of rain hangs over the match, though, with Dallas experiencing stormy weather in the lead-up, and there’s a 20% chance of precipitation forecast for Tuesday.
