Nepal, on Wednesday, slumped to a 55-run defeat against the Netherlands in their maiden ODI after a dramatic collapse that saw the Asian nation losing nine wickets for just 49 runs. After being asked to bowl first by the Netherlands, Nepal, who secured the ODI status earlier this year, bowled out the opponents for just 189 in less than 48 overs. Coming down to chase, the visitors started off strongly with opening batsman Gyanendra Malla smashing his first ODI fifty.

Malla’s 51 off 61 balls came with the help of eight fours. The right-hand batsman stitched a 58-run stand with teenage wicketkeeper Anil Sah, who scored 21 runs. Sitting at 85/1 in the 18th over, Nepal were cruising towards an easy win, before skipper Paras Khadka was dismissed for 12 that triggered a collapse. Malla departed in the next over, and Nepal saw themselves going down to 104/6 in the 27th over.

The tailenders tried to lead a defensive resistance, and took the match to 42nd over, but failed to add too many runs. Nepal were bowled out for 134 with Sharad Vesawkar being dismissed for 4 by Bas de Leede as the final nail in the coffin. With the win, Netherlands took a 1-0 lead in the 2-match series.

The allrounder Michael Rippon, who took 3 wickets for 23 runs in his spell of 10 overs at an economy rate of 2.30, and also scored a half-century in the match, was awarded the man of the match for his performance.