Cricket’s custodian Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) today announced its plan regarding the T20 Triangular Tournament that will be played at the Lord’s later this year with the other two teams being the ICC associate nations – Nepal and Netherlands.
🙌 It has been announced today that @NepalCricket & @KNCBcricket will play MCC in a triangular tournament at Lord's in July.#LoveLords
— Lord's Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) March 26, 2018
The two participating associate nations shall contest against the MCC club team on 29th July, Sunday in the first two matches. A final between the two winning teams will take place on the same day 4:30 PM.
Both Nepal and Netherlands have been granted full One-Day International status by the ICC. The Netherlands earned the status even before playing in the World Cup 2019 Qualifiers since they were the winners of the ICC World Cricket League. Nepal took a longer and more difficult route to the qualification. A few nail-biting victories and a few favorable results promoted the snow-capped country to the ODI status for the first time.
Following the footsteps of Afghanistan, the Asian nation of Nepal has made giant strides in the World Cricket in very less time. They were awarded international T20 status by the ICC in 2014 before competing in the ICC World Twenty20. They defeated Afghanistan, and Hong Kong in the World Cup, making everyone take a note of them.
Surprisingly this is not the first time Nepal is playing at the home of cricket. They made their debut at Lord’s in 2016 in a match arranged to mark the 200-year relationship between the British Empire and Nepal. Nearly 5,000 Nepalese supporters cheered them the team to witness a 41-run win over the MCC side.
England’s neighbor makes its return to the Lord’s after six years. The Dutch team last played a match at the Lord’s in 2012 when they were one of the participating teams in the domestic 40-over competition hosted by ECB.
The Orange Nation dazzled the world when they shocked the hosts in England in the inaugural match of the World T20 2009. They stunned the English team by chasing 162 runs on the last ball at this very ground of the Lord’s.
MCC Head of Cricket, John Stephenson, said: “We are thrilled that both Nepal and the Netherlands will be joining us at Lord’s for what is set to be another uplifting day at the Home of Cricket following Afghanistan’s historic visit last year. We expect to be able to field an MCC side with some big names which will certainly make for a competitive day of cricket. We look forward to welcoming supporters of all competing sides to create what we hope will be a great atmosphere at Lord’s.”
Nepal captain, Paras Khadka, said: “It gives me immense pleasure that Nepal will play at the Home of the Cricket again this year with MCC and the Netherlands. Playing at Lord’s is always special and we are really looking forward to it.”
Netherlands Head Coach, Ryan Campbell, said: “Anytime a cricketer is given the opportunity to play at Lord’s, it is something they should cherish and will think of for the rest of his life. For us to be invited to play there against the MCC and Nepal will be a very special occasion and I’m sure all of our players will be doing everything they can to gain selection into that squad.”
