In a thrilling final-ball finish in Mumbai on Sunday, England held on to defeat Nepal by four runs and escape one of the biggest upsets in T20 World Cup history.
Nepal’s Lokesh Bam, who had bludgeoned a heroic 39 off 19 balls to give his team a chance at a historic victory, needed a six off the penultimate delivery bowled by Sam Curran but could only muster a single as they chased an overwhelming 185 to win. The cricketing underdogs put England’s top bowlers, Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid, to the test in a heroic run chase that ended in exhaustion and agony.
Will Jacks’ late cameo helped England reach 184-7 in the Group C match, which was barely enough despite quick fifties from Jacob Bethell (55) and Harry Brook (53).
Jacks finished at 39 not out off 18 balls after hitting three magnificent sixes from Karan KC’s penultimate over. To the dismay of almost every fan in the three-quarters full Wankhede stadium who had been cheering them on, Nepal ended just a whisker away at 180-6. At the end, Nepal’s players performed a lap of honor and were met with a thunderous applause.
In their chase, Nepal got off to a fast start thanks to a brisk 17-ball 29 from Kushal Bhurtel before Jacks caught and bowled him.
In the 12th over, captain Rohit Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee joined forces at 42-2 to raise Nepal’s score to 100. After giving up 14 runs in his opening over, pacer Archer was summoned back and applied more pressure, giving up just six runs in his next two overs.
With Airee smashing two sixes and a four, the Nepali batsmen targeted Rashid at the other end and launched the leg-spinner for 19 off his third over. England’s top white ball spinner finished with a costly 0-42 from three overs after an exceptionally slack performance.
Nepal needed 62 runs from the final six overs with eight wickets remaining after the blitz. When Airee holed out to Tom Banton for 44 off 29 balls, left-arm seamer Curran came back and made the crucial breakthrough, ending the 82-run partnership for the third wicket.
The wicket stalled Nepal’s momentum, and in the 16th over, Paudel, at 39, flicked Liam Dawson to Phil Salt at deep midwicket, leaving them at 126-4. When Archer returned for a final over, it proved expensive as Lokesh hammered him for three sixes and 22 runs, leaving Nepal needing 24 off 12 balls for an unexpected victory.
Nepal needed 10 from six balls after taking 14 from Luke Wood’s last over, but Curran retained his composure and they could only muster five. As England held on, Archer finished at 1-42 from his four and Dawson was the best bowler in the team with 2-21.
