Former T20 World Cup winners England have started their campaign in the tenth edition of the tournament with a nervy win over Nepal at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The Harry Brook-led side would consider itself lucky as Nepal was on the verge of causing an upset early in the tournament and took some tight bowling from Sam Curran to restrict the opposition four runs short of the target.
T20 World Cup 2026: The Start
England didn’t have the best of starts as they lost three wickets in quick succession at the start of the game and found themselves at 57-3 in 6.1 overs. As for Nepal, Karan KC and Sher Malla were right on the money with the new ball and kept picking wickets at regular intervals to keep the English batters in check.
T20 World Cup 2026: The Rebuilt
It took a change in approach from captain Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell to bring the innings back on track by adding 51 runs for the fourth wicket, with both batters notching up their respective half-centuries. However, Nepal fought back once the partnership was broken by picking wickets in the final five overs and made sure that England were restricted to a manageable total of 184 runs.
T20 World Cup 2026: The Effort
If we talk about Nepal’s bowling effort as a whole, it was led by Dipendra Singh Airee and Sandeep Lamichhane, both of whom picked up wickets while being economical. The duo picked up seven wickets between them and gave away just 48 runs in seven overs at an economy of less than seven runs per over.
T20 World Cup 2026: The Action
After posting a total of 184 runs, everyone would have thought that England would win the game with ease, given the amount of experience that the English bowlers possessed. But as they say, cricket is a game of uncertainties, and that is what Nepal were about to prove as they went about the chase in a professional way, with captain Rohit Paudel leading the way.
T20 World Cup 2026: The Partnership
Despite losing two wickets in the first six overs, Nepal kept on playing their shots and kept the run rate up. The charge was led by Paudel, who was supported by Dipendra Singh Airee, as the pair added 82 runs for the third wicker bringing Nepal close to the target.
However, as is the nature of T20 cricket, the momentum shifted twice after the fall of Paudel and Airee’s wicket, but was brought back in no time by Lokesh Bam, who stayed right till the end but failed to get Nepal over the line.
T20 World Cup 2026: The Final Stage
The reason why Lokesh Bam failed to score 10 runs in the last over was due to some accurate bowling from Sam Curran, who was the pick of the bowlers along with Liam Dawson for England in a match where every other English bowler was taken to the cleaners.
Also Read: List of Bowlers with Wicket on First Ball in T20I Cricket
