The Nepal cricket team was one shot away from upsetting the 2022 T20 World Cup champions, England. At a packed Wankhede Stadium, the Rhinos displayed a spirited performance. There were no dropped catches, no nervous runouts, and no collapse.
Labelled as ‘minnows’ by many, including commentators, Nepal showed everyone why they are the ones in line to become the next sensations of world cricket, at least in the shortest format. In some ways, Nepal’s 4-run defeat was a victory for world cricket and their own confidence.
Regret & Pride
Nepal fast bowler Nandan Yadav, who claimed the wickets of Jos Buttler and Harry Brook, expressed feeling proud and disappointed after their defeat. The Rhinos are proud of the fight they showed, but it isn’t enough to shake off such a loss.
“I think it’s both. There is regret because we came very close and couldn’t get over the line, but at the same time, there is pride because we are competing against very strong teams like England. Being that close shows we are improving, so overall it’s a mix of pride and regret,” Nandan said in the post-match press conference.
Death bowling, a concern
The right-arm pacer shared that Nepal was planning to take bowlers down in the powerplay. Kushal Bhurtel took Jofra Archer and Luke Wood down, and then Dipendra Airee dominated England’s best spinner Adil Rashid.
Lokesh Bam brought them back into the game. But in Nandan’s opinion, the match was probably lost in the death overs in the first innings. Nepal conceded 45 runs in the last 3 overs as Will Jacks took them down. That’s what Nepal wants to improve going forward.
“We were very clear about our plan. We know how Kushal plays in the powerplay, so we were confident in him. The way we played in the middle overs was also according to plan. We stuck to what we discussed and trusted our process.
Lokesh was hitting really well. At one stage, we were out of the game, but he brought us back with three or four sixes. It was better to keep the strike with him. We need to focus more on our death bowling. We tend to give away more runs there. Even while batting, saving a few runs or taking more singles can change games like this,” he said.
Confident about Super 8 chances
All in all, Nandan views the game as a positive. Placed in Group C with the West Indies, whom they recently beat in a 3-match series, Scotland, and Italy, Nepal are confident that they can qualify for the Super 8.
“We are improving in a good way. Games like this are good for us and for our cricket. This was only our first game, and it was very close. We still have a good chance of qualifying for the Super 8,” Nandan added.
