June 25: Nepal’s journey to the Super Six of the ICC One-Day International World Cup Qualifier has ended after conceding a seven-wicket defeat against the Netherlands on Saturday.

With this defeat, Nepal has been eliminated from the group stage, while the Netherlands has made it to the Super Six. Out of five teams playing the match from Group ‘A’, three teams—the Netherlands, hosts Zimbabwe and West Indies—have booked their place in the Super Six. Another team the USA has been also eliminated.    
For the Netherlands, Max O’Dowd hit the highest 90 runs off 75 balls with eight fours and six sixes at the Takashinga Sports Club in Harare, Zimbabwe. Similarly, Bas de Leede contributed 41, and Vikramjit Singh 30. On bowling side, Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane took two wickets and Gulsan Jha one.    
Losing the toss and being invited into bat first, Nepal made 167 runs in 44.3 overs at the loss of all wickets.    
For the losing team, captain Rohit Paudel scored the highest 33 runs off 55 balls including three boundaries and one six. Similarly, Sandeep Lamichhane hit 27 while Kushal Bhurtel scored 27 off 42 balls. Bhim Sarki made 22 off 56, Jha 15, Dipendra Singh Airee 14, and Kushal Malla 12.    
For the Netherlands, Logan van Beek bagged four wickets, and Bas de Leede and Vikramjit Singh two each. Likewise, Clayton Floyd and Aryan Dutt bagged one each.    
In their opening match, Nepal lost to hosts Zimbabwe by eight wickets, and defeated the USA by six wickets in their second match. In their third match, they conceded a 101-run defeat to West Indies. -- RSS