Nepal succumbed to an eight-wicket defeat against the Netherlands in the last match of the Nepal tri-series of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Sunday, thanks to another poor batting display from the Rhinos.

It was Nepal’s third defeat in four matches at the home tri-series of the League 2, which forms a part of the qualification process to the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup. The Nepal Tri-series is the first of the 24 tri-series to be played under the League 2.

Nepal’s concerns with the bat had been a big headache before the arrival of coach Monty Desai in February two years ago, but the inconsistencies seem to have come back to haunt Nepal this season.

It is a far cry from Nepal’s blistering run in the last League 2 cycle when they won 11 out of their last 12 matches to gain automatic qualification to the 2027 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

Much was expected from Rohit Paudel’s team when they swept the warm-up series against Canada 3-0. When they bounced back from the opening loss to Namibia to thrash the Netherlands by nine wickets in their second match on February 17, it sounded a warning that they are still the team to beat and are top favourites to secure the top four spot in the expanded eight-team League 2.

But things are turning sour quickly.

Nepal were able to post only 172 in 49.3 overs after being invited to bat first—their highest total in three matches they batted first in this tri-series. In the inaugural match against Namibia, Nepal were all out for a paltry 132, while the Rhinos could only score 168 total against the same team in their second meetings.

Kushal Bhurtel was the only outstanding batter for Nepal on Sunday, with a half-century—his eighth ODI fifty.

Bhurtel worked with Aasif Sheikh (17) to add 42 runs for the opening wicket. But their struggle with the bat was out in the open again when the top and middle order failed to exploit a fine start.

Anil Sah, whose not out 57 had helped Nepal thrash the Dutch in their first meeting, was out for seven, while Kushal Malla departed for a cheap two. Rohit Paudel was dismissed for a sluggish 40-ball 16. Dipendra Singh Airee (1) and Bhim Sharki (0) could not make any impact.

Bhurtel had to work along before Roelof van der Merwe caught and bowled him on 66 in the 37th over. His patient 93-ball knock included eight boundaries. However, this was his slowest ODI fifty so far.

After Bhurtel departed with Nepal at 122-7, Aarif Sheikh added 22 and Karan KC smacked 27-ball 26.

Aryan Dutta took 3-16 for the Netherlands, while Vivian Kingma returned the match figures of 3-39. Bas de Leede also pocketed two wickets.

In reply, Michael Levitt and Max O’Dowd shared an opening stand of 61 runs before Airee bowled Levitt for 39 runs in the 8.4 overs. O’Dowd departed three overs later for 28 after falling prey to Lalit Rajbanshi’s spin.

But Vikramjit Singh and Sybrand Engelbrecht added an unbeaten stand of 102 runs to guide the Netherlands to 173-2 in 37.5 overs. Singh scored seven boundaries in his unconquered knock of 92-ball 58. Engelbrecht hit 46 not out off 75 balls.

It was the Netherlands’ second victory in four matches.

Nepal will travel to Canada in September and the United States in October to play their next tri-series of the League 2 this year.