Nepal lose to England by a whisker in World Cup

Nepal came very close to celebrating historic upset victory over  favorites England in their opener of the men’s ICC World Cup Twenty20 World Cup in Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, India only to lose by a  mere heartbreaking four runs.

England was expected  to have an easy passage to victory but as the match panned out,they barely managed to survive  after  much suspense and drama.   Nepal had a glorious opportunity to  upset  the applecart when the game came down to the last ball of the final over.

England elected to bat after winning the toss but got off to a shaky start losing an early  wicket.They lost  wickets at regular  intervals,however,half centurions 

Jacob Bethel(55 runs ) and Harry Brook(53 runs), and a crucial unbeaten 39 runs  by tailender  Will Jacks   late in the  innings helped the team post a respectable  and competitive total of 184 for 7.

For Nepal,the bowlers put in  a good performance against  the formidable and seasoned opponent in the early part of the innings,reducing the opposition to 3 for 57  in the  sixth over.But  they somewhat lost their way in the later stages as they failed to pin down the two half centurions, and, more importantly,Jacks whose  contribution  to  his team’s total proved to be the turning point in the match.

Speaking of bowlers’ performances, debutant Sher Malla made a dream start,claiming his first ever wicket for Nepal. 

His early breakthrough had  the experienced England batters  on the back foot as they had to work  hard  for runs.

Right arm medium pacer Nandan  Kumar Yadav playing in his first World Cup bowled well to  end the match with 2 wickets .

Likewise, experienced duo  ace spinner Sandeep Lamichhane and  all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee claimed 1 and wickets respectively.

In the run chase,Nepal made a decent start with  the opening stand of 37 before Aasif Sheikh was out for 7, followed by opener Kushal Bhrutel for 29 with the total at 42 in the fifth over.

From there on the challenge was undertaken by skipper Rohit Paudel(39 runs) and Dipendra Singh Airee(44 runs) who shared 82 runs for the third wicket,raising hopes of a stunning upset win.

However, the dismissal of both batters in a space of two runs  put the  brakes on Nepal’s run chase. 

Lokesh Bam’s  arrival at the wicket and his solid batting once again revived Nepal’s chances of overcoming  the odds of winning the match. 

It was a sensational bounce back with Bam taking the charge. In a display of aggressive batting and  determination to take his team to a famous victory he played a blistering knock of 39 runs off 20 balls with the help of  4 fours and two thunderous sixes.

At one point of the match,it seemed though the tournament’s biggest shocker was in the making when Nepal came fighting back in the last two overs.

Bowler Sam Curran rescued England from the cusp of an  embarrassing defeat after being brought into the attack for the final over when Nepal needed 10 runs for victory.

He saved the day for his team as he  bowled well to stop the run flow from Bam’s bat. In the last ball of the  over, Nepal needed a six for an outright win but fell short by four runs.

Despite defeat, Nepal’s  fighting  performance made  a huge impact,winning hearts and minds of cricket  aficionados across  the globe.  Cricket  experts , writers , commentators and columnists were all  in praise for their performance, efforts and potential.

All -rounder Airee reached a personal milestone in his career, becoming the  first Nepali cricketer to score 2000 runs in Twenty20 internationals.

Nepal next  plays newcomers Italy and are  favored to win. They must not underestimate the opposition  and take victory for granted.

No matter who they are playing against, they  have to  seriously  brace the challenge and be fully prepared to give their best effort .

As a matter of fact,as favorites they will be under some pressure to deliver the desired result. 

 

Having  conceded the opener,they must defeat Italy at all costs in order to gather momentum and  keep their hopes of advancing to super 8s round alive.

If  they suffer their  second successive defeat, it will  be the  end  of their World Cup campaign 

After the Italy match they have two tough opponents in the West Indies and Scotland to handle.

Team Nepal  must stay the course, remain hundred percent focussed and committed to achieving their goals. 

It is  indispensable for them to perform at their very best on all fronts of the game, collectively and individually.There is virtually  no room for mediocrity and insipid performance.Certainly the   team has  the talent and potential to do it.