At Glasgow on June 16, Nepal and the Netherlands played a T20I that needed an unprecedented three Super Overs to decide.
It is not unusual for a limited-overs game to go into a Super Over. A second Super Over is, well, somewhat unusual. A third... well, had never happened until Nepal and the Netherlands simply refused to break the tie. This was the first instance of any men’s game with List A or T20 status going into a Super Over.
The “main” game
The Netherlands posted 152-7 after Rohit Paudel won the toss and opted to field. Teja Nidamanuru top-scored with 35 and Vikramjit Singh made 30 before and Saqib Zulfiqar smashed a 12-ball 25 not out. For Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane claimed 3-18 in four overs.
Nepal became 9-2 in response before Kushal Bhurtel (34 in 23 balls) and Paudel (48 in 35) swung the game in their favour. Daniel Doram (4-0-14-3) and Vikramjit (2-30) then kept striking, leaving Nepal to chase 16 in the last over. Lamichhane hit four, two, one off Kyle Klein, leaving Nandan Yadav to chase nine in three. Nandan ran two twos before hitting a four to tie the game.
The first Super Over
After Paudel ran a single, Bhurtel took on Doram’s left-arm spin, smashing four, six, two, six before being caught by Max O’Dowd off the last ball. Chasing 20 off Karan KC, Michael Levitt hit a six but managed only a leg-bye off the next two balls.
With 13 to score in three balls, O’Dowd ran a brace before smashing a six and a four to pull off the second tie.
The second Super Over
Scott Edwards now came out to bat alongside O’Dowd, and began with a six and a single off left-arm spinner Lalit Rajbanshi before settling for a single. O’Dowd hit a six as well. Rajbanshi followed with a wide, but did well to concede only three more runs and dismiss Edwards with his last ball.
Paudel began the chase of 18 with a six and a single off Klein. Airee hit a four, but Klein bowled two dot balls to force Nepal to hit a last-ball six, no less, to tie the game. Airee did exactly that.
The third Super Over
Off-spinner Zach Lion-Cachet now bowled for the Netherlands. After he took out Paudel with the first ball, Rupesh Singh walked out but was unable to score off the next two balls. With only three balls left, Rupesh perished and, with him, did Nepal’s hopes. With just a run to score, Levitt lofted the first ball for six to decide the game.
Match 2, Nepal vs Netherlands
vs
- Ball by ball Over
