Win Projections to be updated soon
Match 31 of the T20 World Cup 2024 mega cricket carnival took place on Saturday, 15 June, at Kingstown in St Vincent. Rising Mount Everest nation Nepal (NEP) faced off against Rainbow Nation South Africa (SA).
Notably, in the Group D match against South Africa, Nepal chose to field first after winning the toss. The fact that it was the first time the two teams had played in the format was noteworthy. South Africa maintained composure to steal a last-ball victory from Nepal in what turned out to be a genuine barn burner.
When South Africa batted first, Quinton de Kock was out of the game early after failing to put up a strong opening stand with Reeza Hendricks. With the ball, Dipendra Singh Airee (3/21) was the Asian team’s standout player. He first dismissed both openers and then grabbed a crucial wicket of David Miller, placing South Africa in a vulnerable position.
Along with his bowling prowess, Kushal Bhurtel rattled the batters of the Rainbow Nation by taking four wickets (4/19) with extremely economical bowling.
Sandeep Lamichhane, the prominent leg spinner from Nepal, returned to the team after resolving his visa concerns. He didn’t manage to gain a wicket, but he bowled tightly from one end, like a water chamber, to get under Proteas’ skin. South Africa gave up, crashing to 115/7 in 20 overs.
Nepal began the run chase carefully, using the skillful Aasif Sheikh (42 off 49 balls) and Kushal Bhurtel (13 off 21) to give the Everest nation a 35-run lead. But left-arm leg spin virtuoso Tabrez Shamsi had other ideas. He put Nepal under pressure with his magnificent delivery and proceeded to take a four-wicket (4/19) haul to remain ahead of South Africa.
What appeared to be a straightforward run chase turned out to be more difficult in the middle as Shamsi claimed two vital wickets in the 18th over to bring his team back into contention. In the exciting T20 World Cup 2024 match, Sompal Kami attempted to give Nepal a chance by hitting a six in the 19th over.
As such, Nepal’s final over required eight runs. Ottneil Baartman was given the task of guarding the target by the seasoned South African captain Aiden Markram. Nepal needed four runs off of three balls when a youthful Gulshan Jha lofted a wide yorker from Baartman over the cover region for a four in the third delivery of the over. Jha was unable to connect with either of the two bouncers that the seasoned pacer delivered while remaining composed.
This indicates that Nepal just required a single run on the game’s last ball. Heinrich Klaasen, however, prevented South Africa from suffering a historic upset at the hands of the Asian country by demonstrating his mastery of fielding with a backflick throw runout.
Tabrez Shamsi, Player of the Match:
“Definitely relived, we came in with the goal of making it four out of four in this stage. Anywhere we go in the Caribbean, I assume that there is going to be turn. Fast bowlers did a great job in New York, but slower bowlers will have to take on the mantle. [On Nepal] I think they were brilliant, they took full advantage of the conditions. Wicket got better in the second innings, but they played a beautiful game. The huge positive is that we’ve been put under pressure every game and we’ve stood up to it every time. When this team is rolling, everyone knows their roles.”
Rohit Paudel, Losing Captain:
“I think I am very proud of the unit, especially the way we bowled and batted. When we saw the wicket yesterday, we thought it would be on the slower side. When we were bowling I thought the wicket was helping the spinners so we carried on with the spinners. I think we were very close but a little far. In crunch moments we did well, I thought we fought very good. If we get more exposure to games like this, we will be on the other side [of the result]. [On the fans] I want to thank the fans for the way they have been supporting us. They come a long way, in the rain and everything, they come to support us.”
Aiden Markram, Winning Captain:
“Very grateful to have got the win, we were not near our best tonight. Reflecting back on the game over the next few days, there will be a lot of learnings for us. We have a good pace attack and you want to back that. I thought if we got the ball in the right areas, it would be challenging for the batters. In hindsight, we should have picked another spinner. First and foremost, the way [Nepal] bowled it made it really tough for us.
They put us under a lot of pressure. And maybe there was not enough conviction in our plans. [On moving from USA to West Indies] It has been a bit different, we spent the whole day almost doing nothing and there we’d be playing first thing in the morning. Moving forward some things may change. It’s one of the big challenges of cricket, being open minded and adapting.”
India
