Batter Max O'Dowd, who played a pivotal role in guiding the Netherlands to a six-wicket victory over Nepal in their T20 World Cup group D opener, acknowledged the challenge posed by the Asian side saying, "it wasn’t an easy win."
The Grand Prairie Stadium was awash with the colors and sounds of Nepal on Tuesday, as their fans turned up in droves for their T20 World Cup opener. Despite the vibrant support and their spirited effort on the field, Nepal fell short against the Netherlands in a tense encounter.
On Chasing a modest target of 106, O'Dowd remarked, "I definitely wouldn't say it was easy and a World Cup win is amazing, any World Cup win is great. I think our bowlers bowled extremely well to restrict them to 106 but you see Nepal have so much fight and spirit that they managed to bring it down to what it was. I don't think it was ever a case of it being an easy win,” O’Dowd said after the match.
The Netherlands bowlers led by left-arm spinner Tim Pringle (3-20) and medium-pacer Logan van Beek (3-18), put in a stellar collective effort to bundle out Nepal for just 106.
Chasing 107, the Netherlands suffered an early setback as Sompal Kami had Michael Levitt caught in just the second over. But O’Dowd and Vikramjit Singh (22) settled any Dutch nerves with a steady 40-run partnership, before Sybrand Engelbrecht added a helpful 14 from 16 to bring the target within reach.
However, Nepal displayed electric fielding and made every run a challenge for the Netherlands despite dropping a couple of catches. "Personally, I felt like I really had to think about what was best for the team in certain situations and you could see the pressure they were putting on us, the way they field. I think they're one of the best fielding units in the world. So, they put a lot of pressure on us and definitely didn't make it easy. But I'm just happy that we managed to get over the line," O'Dowd noted.
The crowd's energy fueled O'Dowd’s determination to see his team through, even as Nepal applied relentless pressure through the middle and death overs. His patience and composure were on full display, especially between the 11.2 and 18th overs when boundaries were hard to come by.
However, O'Dowd broke the dry spell in the 19th over, hitting Abinash Bohara for a four and a six in successive balls, effectively sealing the win with just 13 needed off the last 12 balls.
Reflecting on the victory, O'Dowd shared, "For me, it's just I guess trusting the processes that I have and I feel like a lot of us guys are probably quite similar. We have nerves and stuff before the games. You see the crowd. It kind of builds up.
But then once you step over that line, it's just another game of cricket, really. And you try not to let it annoy you or get in your head. But yeah, for me, I really love it."
Netherlands will now travel to New York for their second group stage match against South Africa on June 8 inat the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.
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