Nepal secured their ODI status yesterday, and the Netherlands secured theirs over three months ago, so of course today's match between the two teams for seventh place in the World Cup Qualifier wasn't an ODI, unlike the ninth place play-off between Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong also played today.

Dutch captain Peter Borren was no doubt unconcerned with such trivialities as he won the toss and chose to bat first, instead having to concern himself with his team soon finding themselves on 6-2 in the third over after both Wesley Barresi and Ben Cooper were out for ducks.

Borren didn't contribute much either as he was the third man out, scoring seven, with Sompal Kami taking all of those first three wickets. Bas de Leede top scored for the Netherlands with 39, sharing in a 49 run partnership for the fifth wicket with Roelof van der Merwe and a 41 run partnership for the sixth with Scott Edwards.

Pieter Seelaar and Shane Snater helped avoid a really low score, both scoring 23 as they put on 37 for the ninth wicket. The final total for the Dutch was 189-9 from their 50 overs, Sompal Kami finishing with 3-24 from his ten overs.

Nepal lost both openers cheaply in reply, but had reached 51 after 16 overs with Paras Khadka and Dipendra Singh Airee both looking well set. However they somehow contrived to go from 51-2 to 76-7 in the next ten overs, putting them well on the back foot.

Sompal Kami scored a belligerent 36, Nepal's top score, but that was never going to be enough and Nepal were bowled out for 144, losing by 45 runs. Roelof van der Merwe was the pick of the Dutch bowlers with 4-20.

Whilst the Netherlands will be playing in the new 13 team ODI league from 2020, it remains to be seen exactly what cricket they'll have before then, with no confirmed fixtures for the rest of the year.

Nepal do have an Asia Cup Qualifier in India in September, which will likely see them play their first ODI against the UAE. Whilst their fans will be hoping for some ODIs against full members, neither Hong Kong or Papua New Guinea managed any such matches outside of ICC tournaments in their four years with ODI status.

Nepal has a passionate fan base of course, which may translate into fixtures. However the elephant in the room there is their ongoing suspension from the ICC, which means that they can't enter into any bilateral arrangements without the say so of the ICC.

However, the ICC are hopeful that, providing the Cricket Association of Nepal stick to the plan they have agreed on, the suspension can be lifted soon, possibly at the annual conference in a few months. Maybe the prospect of regular fixtures is just what CAN need to inspire them to finally sort out their governance issues.