Nepal thrashed the Netherlands by six wickets at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on Saturday to progress into the final of the Nepal Tri-Nation T20I Series.

The Rhinos owed their victory mostly to a combined effort from bowlers Karan KC, Pratis GC and Kushal Malla whose spectacular bowling display helped Rohit Paudel’s men fold the Netherlands to a modest 120 all out in 19.3 overs and set the tone for victory.

In reply, Nepal chased down the target in 15.2 overs, thanks to a 86-run stand from skipper Paudel and Gulsah Jha.

A consecutive win of the series gives the home team four points from four matches and a second place finish in the three-team standings.

Despite the loss, the Netherlands, also on four points, sit on the summit due to net run rate but are not yet assured of the final spot. The Netherlands have a run rate of 0.310, while Nepal’s run rate is 0.293.

Nepal would have moved to the top had they completed the chase inside 15 overs on Saturday.

The Dutchmen’s chances of reaching the final and booking a rematch with Nepal is highly likely, unless Namibia defeat them by a huge margin in the last group match of the series on Sunday. The Namibians have two points and have a run rate of -0.700.

If the Netherlands beat Namibia, they will secure their spot in the final as group winners.

If Namibia win, both three teams will have equal four points but Nepal will keep the second position.

The top two teams compete in the final on Tuesday.

A consecutive loss in the first round—against Namibia by 20 runs and the Netherlands by two runs—had left Nepal’s bid to reach the final on a knife-edge. However, an exceptional final over bowling from KC had given Nepal a three-run win over Namibia on Friday, keeping them alive in the competition.

KC continued where he left off as he gave the Dutch, who opted to bat first after winning the toss, a nightmarish start removing opener Michael Levitt for four and Sybrand Engelbrecht for a duck in the first over, bringing the jam-packed stadium to their feet.

Max O’Dowd and skipper Scott Edwards put on a fifty-run stand for the third wicket to rebuild the Netherlands innings.

But GC dispatched both Edwards (18) and O’Dowd (31) in the ninth over to halt Netherlands progress.

Malla eliminated Noah Croes (3) and Aryan Dutta (0) in the subsequent over, leaving the visitors in serious trouble at 60-6 by the end of the 10th over, before GC did further damage with his third wicket of the match, sending Teja Nidamanuru (5) to the dugout.

Timm van Gugten added 24 runs off 26 balls and Roelof van der Merwe played not out 23 facing 14 deliveries to drag the Dutch past 100 total.

GC returned the match figures of 4-1-13-3, his career best bowling figure. He was adjudged player of the match.

In the chase, Nepal lost both openers Kushal Bhurtel for 12 and Aasif Sheikh for eight to Vivian Kingma in the third over.

Captain Paudel scored 46 runs off 34 balls and Gulsan Jha hit 38 runs off 36 balls, and added 86 runs for the third wicket, before Dipendra Singh Airee (four not out) and Kushal Malla (two not out) completed the victory.

Kingma took 3-17 including the wicket of Paudel, while Dutt pocketed a wicket for the Netherlands.