Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal suffered its second defeat of the Nepal Tri-Nation T20I series, conceding a 2-run loss against the Netherlands at the TU International Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
Invited to bat first after losing the toss, the Netherlands posted a total of 184 runs for the loss of four wickets. Nepal fell short by just two runs in the chase as the hosts were all out for 182 runs losing eight wickets.
Nepal lost the opening match of the tri-series against Namibia by 20 runs on Tuesday.
While Nepal managed to dismiss Dutch opener Max O’Dowd with just 15 runs on the board, the other opener Michael Levitt and Sybrand Engelbrecht found scoring opportunities freely. Levitt contributed 54 runs off 36 balls, while Engelbrecht remained unbeaten with 49 off 38 balls. Captain Scott Edwards added a quick 33 off 16 balls, and Teja Nidamanuru contributed 31 off 24 balls.
Karan KC and Kushal Malla claimed a wicket each for Nepal, while two Dutch batters were run out.
Chasing 185 to win, Nepal seemed poised for victory until it lost two crucial wickets in successive deliveries in the 20th over bowled by Roeleof van der Merwe. KC was run out before Dipendra Singh Airee was bowled, leaving Nepal needing three runs off two balls. Kushal Bhurtel was dismissed for a duck for the second time in the series. However, Aasif Sheikh and Captain Rohit Poudel steadied the innings, adding 65 runs for the second wicket. Sheikh scored 34 off 23 balls, while Poudel scored 50 off just 36 balls. Dipendra Singh Airee top-scored for Nepal with a 34-ball 63, while Karan KC and Kushal Malla managed 11 runs each. Five Nepali batters failed to reach double digits, with four of them failing to score at all.
Engelbrecht and van der Merew took two wickets for the visitors, while Vivian Kingma, Timm van der Gugten, and Aryan Dutt claimed one wicket each.
The Netherlands will face Namibia on Thursday in their second match of the series.
