When Adil Rashid digs into the stands, you know you have a problem.
The England leg-spinner is one of only six players to have taken more than 150 wickets in T20 internationals and is usually very reliable, economical and very difficult for batsmen to pick.
But not for Nepal.
Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airi crushes Adil Rashid at Wankhede Stadium
Rashid was clearly not at his best, but his impressive numbers (0-42 in three overs, economy rate 14) were as much due to Nepal’s adventures as his inaccuracies.
Associate countries are not participating in this T20 World Cup purely to make up the numbers. Their ambitions are even grander. They want a spot in the Super 8. Maybe there are more.
In the match against England, death bowler Sam Curran kept his cool as they lost by four runs, and although they may have fallen short in the end, their performance sent a warning shot to the other teams. Their sharp fielding. their speedy running. Their suppression of Rashid.
Rashid’s first over was held to a boundary, the second of which was sent over by Nepal captain Rohit Paudel with a mph over midwicket. Rashid’s next set saw two offside fours as Paudel chipped over and Dipendra Singh Airi reverse-swept.
Then came the real onslaught.
Midway through the third over, Rashid was beaten at midwicket by Paudel for six. Two balls later, he cream-shot a four-point shot from Iley’s cover. Then, on one delivery, he was shoved backwards into the seat over extra cover. we never saw him again.
And in the end, there was no upset. England held their nerve when it mattered and delivered, in stark contrast to the Ashes earlier this winter, where they melted down at crucial moments.
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Sam Curran conceded only five of Nepal’s required 10 runs in the final over as England defeated the sub-nationals in the T20 World Cup Classic.
Bowling hero Curran: A look back at the 2016 T20 World Cup final
With Nepal starting with 10 needed, Curran’s decision for York in his 20th over was crucial and the seamer’s mind was flashing back to the 2016 T20 World Cup final, when West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite hit Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes.
Curran said, “Strangely, I thought back to that final and thought, “If I execute, he won’t even hit a six.” (At the top) I just looked at the batsman’s feet and thankfully I executed.”
Curran and Jofra Archer dislodged set batsmen Iley and Paudel before making important interventions to check the chase, and England had scored 21 runs by the end of the innings, mainly through the efforts of Will Jacks.
Those turned out to be a big run.
It would be great if we won a game like this, but it would be a terrible game if we lost. This shows how competitive this World Cup will be. I knew it would be packed with Nepali fans. I used to play a lot of cricket in India, but I had never experienced an atmosphere like that.
Sam Curran
England are making it a habit to win against national T20 teams, whether by the slimmest of margins (as in this last-ball thriller) or by huge margins (as in September, when they beat South Africa by 146 runs after piling up 304-2 in Manchester).
This makes it 11 wins from the last 12 matches completed in this format, including the last eight matches at home, in New Zealand, Sri Lanka and India.
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England captain Harry Brook reached his 50 with 6 off 31 balls.
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Jacob Bethel crosses 50 with best streak in Mumbai
This win was a nerve-wracking one, with the leg-spin wizard off his game and likely a defeat in many ways. But such a close game should sharpen England ahead of a further group challenge against West Indies on Wednesday, and further group challenges against Scotland and Italy.
Jax said: “It’s a great trait to win ugly. It’s incredibly difficult to recreate that experience. I hope that when I find myself in that situation for the rest of the tournament, as I’m sure I will at some point, I can look back on this.”
The road to the Super 8s was probably never completely smooth – just look at how India and Pakistan challenged in qualifying on the first day – but England are now two points closer to that goal after a solid finish in Mumbai.
Nepal currently has zero points, but this loss will further increase their confidence of advancing to the second round.
The West Indies are favorites to take the two spots in Group C along with England, but Nepal defeated the Caribbean team 2-1 in last year’s T20 series.
They could have beaten England had they not lost control of the ball at the end of Sunday’s game. Mr. Karan went on to teach the Nepalese bowlers how to bowl.
Coming from England, it wasn’t necessarily beautiful, but it was gritty. And if they can combine these two traits, they will be strong contenders to win a third T20 World Cup title.
It was a winning start.
England T20 World Cup schedule and results (1st round)
Always UK and Ireland. All matches will be streamed live on Sky Sports
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