Sam Curran bowled a superb final over to save England’s blushes as Nepal fell agonisingly short of a famous upset in their first ICC T20 World Cup Group C fixture at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
The left-arm pacer defended 10 runs in the last over, keeping Lokesh Bam at bay. Bam smashed a scintillating unbeaten 39 off 20 balls, but Nepal ultimately fell four runs short of England’s 184 for 7, with their innings ending on 180 for 6.
Earlier electing to bat at the Wankhede Stadium, England slumped to 57-3 in the seventh over to find themselves in a spot of bother.
Sher Malla struck with the first ball on his World Cup debut, dismissing Phil Salt for one, and the pressure mounted on England after Jos Buttler and Tom Banton fell in quick succession.
Jacob Bethell had no problem adjusting to the nature of the track, where other batters found shot-making difficult.
Bethell and Harry Brook combined in a 71-run partnership during their 45-ball collaboration to rebuild their innings.
Bethell hit Kushal Bhurtel for back-to-back sixes to bring up his 28-ball fifty but quickly went out to the leg spinner.
Brook pulled Nandan Yadav to reach his fifty but fell immediately, offering a skier at deep point.
Will Jacks provided the late surge for England with an unbeaten 39 off 18 balls. The batter smashed four sixes, including three in the final over from Karan Chhetri.
Bhurtel (29) led Nepal's charge when they returned to begin their chase.
The opener hit four fours and a six before his soft dismissal - when he stepped out against Jacks and checked his shot, giving a simple return catch to the spinner.
Dipendra Singh Airee (44) and skipper Rohit Paudel (39) kept Nepal in the hunt with a stand of 82 from 54 balls.
Curran brought relief to the English camp when he had Airee caught in the deep and Paudel also departed soon.
Bam hit Jofra Archer for back-to-back sixes to turn the match on its head.
With Nepal needing 10 runs off the last over from Curran, Bam needed to hit the last ball for a six but he managed only one as England heaved a huge sigh of relief.
