Dipendra Singh Airee scored a monumental half-century to guide Nepal past the finish line in Mumbai, sealing their first win at the T20 World Cup since 2014.
Michael Leask broke the opening partnership between Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh to bring Scotland back into the game. The opening duo had added 74 runs off 9.1 overs before Leask managed to induce a miscued shot off Bhurtel (43).
Leask then nabbed another wicket in his opening burst, getting the better of Aasif Sheikh with 94 runs on the board.
After restricted Scotland for 170 for 7, Nepal had begun their chase at the Wankhede Stadium, finding early boundaries in the powerplay. Openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh had amassed 56 runs in the first six overs to ease their side into the chase.
Both teams are looking to end their campaign on a winning note, having been pushed out of Super Eight contention.
“This means a lot to me, my second World Cup as captain, and winning first game in last game of league stage was very important to us as a team. Dipendra led the way. After our game against England, they started booking tickets and supported us to the last game. To slow down and restrict them to 170, our death bowling was great. Focused more on dot balls than taking wickets. This is not the way we wanted to play but with Dipendra and Gulshan, they won the game for us. Dipendra deserves MoM, he has great talent. We kept our nerves calm, bowlers and batters. We learned a lot from England game. To summarise this tournament, we wanted to play the way we did against England and Scotland. Italy was not the way we wanted to play. We will try to improve from here,” said a jubilant Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel.
Put into bat, Scotland started strong, racing to 52 for 0 in powerplay. But medium-pacer Sompal Kami engineered a Nepal recovery in the last five overs.
Though they lost captain George Munsey for 27, Scotland kept up the scoring rate, piling 131 for 1 in 15 overs. Michael Jones kept Scotland on the offensive for most part with a standout innings of 71 off 45 balls, with the help of eight fours and three sixes.
Just when Scotland looked like they were going up a gear, the experienced Kami pegged them back with two wickets in the 16th over. After castling Jones, Kami plucked a superb return catch to pack off Brandon McMullen (25). Momentum was now with Nepal, and their bowlers, buoyed by the support at the Wankhede, pulled the rug from under Scotland in the slog overs.
In the last five overs, Scotland scored 39 runs and lost six wickets. Kami finished with 3/25 in his four overs.
“The atmosphere was incredible, always knew it would be a tough game against Nepal, with the crowd behind them. But full credit to Airee, he’s changed the momentum of the game. 170 was competitive, they bowled extremely well but we left a few out there. Took one innings to change the game and get the result for Nepal. We’ve shown once again we can compete at this level, but there’s some frustration there. We could have won a few more, but a lot to take forward as a team. Our preparation was very different to other teams but we embraced that. Would have liked a few more wins but pleased with some of the performances,” said Scotland skipper Richie Berrington.
The Player of the Match was Dipendra Singh Airee for his unbeaten 50 from 23 balls. “Thanks to the fans, in the last World Cup we didn’t win a single match so very important for us. One of the best innings. England match was learning experience, this is good for us,” he said.
Brief scores: Scotland 170 for seven in 20 overs (George Munsey 27, Michael Jones 71, Brandon McMullen 25; Sompal Kami 3/25, Nandan Yadav 2/34) lost to Nepal 171 for three in 19.2 overs (Kushal Bhurtel 43, Aasif Sheikh 33, Dipendra Singh Airee 50 not out, Gulsan Jhan 24 not out; Michael Leask 3/30).
