England Survive Nepal Scare in Last-Over Thriller at T20 World Cup
England, the two-time T20 World Cup champions, just managed to escape in Mumbai. They won by only 4 runs after a brilliant final over by Sam Curran. Nepal gave England a huge scare and came very close to pulling off a big upset. One more big hit could have won the match for Nepal, but it didn’t happen in the end. The Nepal players were heartbroken after coming so close. This match shows how exciting this World Cup is, no team can be taken lightly.
Karan KC gave 22 runs in the 20th over earlier, and that was the difference in the end!!! One too many boundaries conceded by Nepal in the death overs. One might argue 10 runs off the final over should have been the game for them, but Lokesh Bahadur Bam should be mighty proud of his effort with the bat.
Overall, England narrowly survive the Nepal scare. Sam Curran did the job with the ball, nailing his yorkers and slower balls with only 10 to defend in the last over. Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid, the two senior pros in the England attack, will try to hide somewhere after the way Nepalese batters slammed them all around the park. Rashid went for 42 in his 3 overs, while Archer leaked as many but in 4 overs. The speedster was also spanked for 22 runs in the 18th over, with the Asian side needing 46 to win in 18 balls.
England Edge Past Nepal in Last-Over Thriller
Earlier in the game, England won the toss and batted first. Sher Malla, the debutant, struck on his first ball, dismissing Phil Salt for 1. Jos Buttler looked good for a while, but Nandan Yadav had his revenge inside the powerplay. Tom Banton played a reckless shot and gave his wicket away. Jacob Bethell kept going and added 71 runs for the 4th wicket alongside his skipper Harry Brook as the two fearless batters notched up half-centuries and rebuilt the innings after England were reduced to 57/3.
Sam Curran had a poor day with the bat. Will Jacks struggled at the start, but suddenly, he raced away to 39 off 18 balls and gave England a good finish as they post 184/7. Dipendra Singh Airee and Nandan picked up 2 wickets each, while Sandeep Lamichhane and Sher Malla scalped a wicket each. Following Bethell's dismissal, Nepal tried to choke England with spin, but the last couple of overs gave England the momentum.
Kushal Bhurtel set the stage on fire by smashing Archer with a few outstanding drives early on. Aasif Sheikh joined the party. Brook had to introduce spin. Liam Dawson and Will Jacks dismissed both the openers in quick succession inside the powerplay. Airee and Rohit Paudel slowly rebuilt, adding 82 runs for the 3rd wicket. The former slammed 44 off 29 balls, while the latter anchored with 39 off 34 balls. Curran got rid of Airee just when things became ominous for England. Dawson returned to knock over Paudel. Aarif Sheikh hit a six off Archer, and then it was all on Lokesh Bam, who remained unbeaten on 39 off 20 balls, keeping Nepal in the hunt until the very last ball.
