After coming agonisingly close to a historic win and what would have been their first against a Full Member side, Nepal captain Rohit Paudel believes more such exposure of playing against some of the top sides in the world will see them on the right side of the result. Nepal were on top of their modest chase of 116 against South Africa for most parts until Tabraiz Shamsi returned to claim two wickets in the 18th over when Nepal needed 18 from 18. Anrich Nortje then conceded eight off the 19th and Ottneil Baartman defended seven in the last over, which included a tense situation of Nepal needing two from the last ball but they couldn’t get even one, which would have taken the game to a Super Over.
“I am very proud of the unit, especially the way we bowled and batted, I’m very proud of that,” Paudel said at the presentation. “We were very close but a little far. In crunch moments we did well, but the way we fought was very good. If we get more exposure regularly then next games we will be on the other side [of the result].”
Nepal’s stunning performance and a near-upset was scripted by the spinners Dipendra Singh Airee and Kushal Bhurtel who claimed seven wickets between them for just 40 runs in their combined eight overs. Sandeep Lamichhane, who was playing his first game of the T20 World Cup 2024 after missing the USA leg, bowled four frugal overs for just 18 runs with only one boundary.
When asked if they expected the spinners to get so much assistance from the pitch, Paudel said: “Yeah, when we saw the wicket yesterday, we thought it would be on the slower side. Eventually when we were bowling I thought the wicket was helping the spinners and then we introduced Bhurtel and we carried on with the spinners.” Bhurtel claimed 4 for 19 which included the big scalps of Aiden Markram and Henrich Klaasen before he also dismissed Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada.
