England 184 for 7 (Bethell 55, Brook 53, Jacks 39*) beat Nepal 180 for 6 (Airee 44, Bam 39*, Paudel 39, Dawson 2-21) by four runs
When both men fell in the space of eight balls, the game looked as good as done. But nobody told Bam, who hit consecutive streaky boundaries off Curran before launching Archer for two towering sixes. Luke Wood’s 19th over cost 14 runs as he struggled to find his line, slashed away for two more boundaries by Bam, leaving ten required off the last and sending the thousands of Nepalese fans who had travelled to Mumbai into bedlam.
But Curran stuck to his yorker plan at the death, leaving Bam needing to clear the ropes off the last ball. He could only toe-end it out to deep extra cover, and England celebrated a nerve-jangling win. It was more heartbreak for Nepal, after their one-run defeat to South Africa in St Vincent in the 2024 edition of this tournament, but they ran England – the two-time world champions in this format – incredibly close.
“The whole of Nepal came here to support us,” Paudel said after a heart-breaking defeat. “It’s great to see them here and that motivates us: when we went to the ground, we carry your hopes, we carry your belief. Today, we gave everything, and all of Nepal will be very proud of us.”
England’s off-night
England came into this World Cup riding high after a 3-0 series win in Sri Lanka, but looked off the pace with the ball. Liam Dawson, finally playing his first match at an ICC event aged 35, was the exception, taking 2 for 21 from his four overs, but Archer and Adil Rashid – usually England’s bankers – were uncharacteristically expensive as Nepal took them down.
Paudel and Airee built steadily, running hard between the wickets and seizing on any width. Airee was strong on the sweep and reverse, while Paudel hoisted Rashid over midwicket for a slog-swept six. Nepal were slightly behind the required rate for most of the innings, but never let it creep past 12 runs per over.
The pair took 19 runs off Rashid’s third over, the 14th of the innings, as England’s legspinner went wicketless for the first time in 25 T20Is. Paudel clattered a drag-down for six, Airee drilled him through the covers, and then played the shot of the night when reverse-slog-sweeping him over point.
Both men were caught in the deep in quick succession, Airee holing out to cover off Curran and Paudel brilliantly held by a diving Salt at midwicket off Dawson. But Bam was rewarded for his attacking intent, slamming two slower balls for six during Archer’s 22-run final over, and taking the game right down to the wire.
Nepal’s lively start
England looked to exploit the fielding restrictions on a pitch that they expected would slow down as the day wore on, but lost three wickets within the first 6.1 overs. On each occasion, a Nepal bowler struck inside the first three balls of their first over, perhaps benefitting from the fact that they had never previously come up against England in any international match.
Tom Banton, preferred to Ben Duckett at No. 4 after a strong series in Sri Lanka, was given an early life when Malla put down a caught-and-bowled chance in his follow-through off the final delivery of the powerplay. But he did not make Malla pay for his drop, and was trapped lbw by Sandeep Lamichhane off the very next ball of the innings to leave England 57 for 3.
Bethell, Brook lead recovery
Bethell has had a quiet run at No. 3 for England in T20Is, but was not in the mood to second-guess himself in his first innings at a senior ICC event. He belted Malla for four, six, four to get his innings moving, and reached a 28-ball half-century with consecutive towering blows of Bhurtel’s legspin.
Brook also got going after a slowish start, launching Lamichhane for a huge six over long-on, but got stuck at the non-striker’s end after Bethell picked out long-on off Airee’s offspin. He only faced seven of the next 26 balls as Curran and Jacks both struggled to get going, Curran dragging Airee onto his own stumps.
Brook miscued to deep point after reaching a 31-ball 50 with a six over midwicket, but Jacks tucked into Karan KC’s final over, shimmying outside leg stump to launch him over the off side for three sweetly-struck sixes. “The way that he batted at the end there has won us the game,” Brook reflected.
Matt Roller is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
