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James Wallace
Phew, time for me to depart. What a thrilling match, Simon Burnton’s match report will be along shortly. Enjoy your Sunday, goodbye.
England captain Harry Brook speaks:
“It wasn’t easy at all but thankfully we got over the line. They played extremely well. Not many teams take Adil Rashid down the way they did – they played against him outstandingly and put us in a tricky situation for quite a few occasions.
I thought we were in a good position to defend that (total). I didn’t think it would go as close as that. Hats off to the Nepalese team they played extremely well.
“Beth (Jacob Bethell) played outstanding, the way he was rocking back and smacking the spinners into the stands was nice to watch. The way Jacksy (Will Jacks) just slipped into his role at number seven. He hasn’t done much of it but the way he batted at the end there won us the game.”
Brooks has a final word or two for Sam Curran and his steely nerved final over: “Unbelievable. We were both fairly calm out there. He executed outstandingly.”
Nepal captain Rohit Paudel reflects: “Disappointment is there but at the same time, I’m very proud of the team. When we step out today in the ground, the only message to the group was we’ll give 110% and they gave all they had. I’m very proud of them.
“We had belief when we came in this World Cup. We didn’t come here to participate, we wanted to compete and we had that belief in the group that we can beat any of the sides if we play our best brand of cricket. I thought today we played our best brand of cricket.
“I think we can improve [our death bowling]. England were also struggling but Sam Curran bowled really well. It’s hard for bowlers in death overs to bowl and execute yorkers but at the same time, we’ll improve there.”
You can imagine the headlines if England had lost that match, Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum will be breathing a huge sigh of relief.
Nepal take a lap of the stadium, they look absolutely gutted but what a performance, they probably feel that having somehow got it to ten required off six balls they should have finished the job. They lost to South Africa by one run in the previous World Cup, they’ll hurt now but have shown they are absolutely a side to be reckoned with in this tournament.
Sam Curran’s final over spared England’s blushes, just five runs off when Nepal had got it down to ten required with some sublime hitting. Will Jacks is named Player of the Match for his 39 off 18 balls that got England those crucial runs at the end of their own innings.
Sporting a bleached buzz cut, Jacks is full of praise for the opposition:
“Full credit to Nepal, they were absolutely brilliant. The pitch was tricky but they played the spin really well and took us close there. Nice to spend some time in the middle, I let the ball come and kept it simple. Didn’t overhit it… tactically they were very good and pushed us to the brink there. If the surfaces continue to behave like that, our adaptability will be crucial.”
ShareEngland win by four runs!
Curran bowls a fine last over that sees Bam needing to hit a six off the final ball to win the game. Curran, Brook and Buttler have a long discussion, surely we aren’t going to see Curran’s moon ball? Here we go, Curran bustles in and nails the yorker, Bam can only manage a single and his wonderful innings ends in vain. England squeak over the line but they were given one heck of a jolt by the ‘Cardiac Kids’ of Nepal.
19th over: Nepal 175-6, (Bam 35, Karan 0) Luke Wood is tasked with the penultimate over. The crowd are going nuts and the pressure is off the charts. Bam top edges a sweep of the first ball for four! Wood is feeling the heat, he spears down consecutive wides that are outside the tramline. Bam misses with a moose across the line but then hits a one bounce four down the ground! What an innings this is, Lokesh Bam is doing the business for Nepal! There are still three balls to go in the over, Brook, Buttler and Wood meet in the middle of the pitch for crisis talks. Nepal now need 14 runs from 9 balls.
Right, here comes Wood. It’s a wide! That wasn’t the plan. 13 needed off 9. Wood serves up a full bunger that Bam thuds down the ground and they come back for two! A single to Bam down the ground. He’ll keep the strike for the last over, his partner Gulshan can have a free hit off the final ball… Wood bowls him!
What an over! What a game! 14 runs and the wicket off the over. Nepal need 1o runs off the final 6 balls. Lokesh Bam is on strike with 35 off 15. Sam Curran is tasked with bowling the last over. Here we go.
Updated at 08.02 EST
18th over: Nepal 161-5, (Bam 24, Gulshan 1) Lokesh Bam spots Archer’s slower ball and absolutely mullers it straight down the ground for a towering SIX! And another! Bam! Bammalam! Archer tries the slower bouncer and Bam slaps it away for SIX more. A single off the final ball sees Bam keep strike for the next, 22 runs off the over.
Nepal need 24 from 12 balls!
Updated at 08.02 EST
WICKET! Aarif Sheikh c Buttler b Archer 10 (Nepal 146-5)
Jofra Archer is deposited for SIX runs by Sheikh who spots his slower ball and climbs in. He’s gone the very next ball though, Archer goes full pace and a nick from a kitchen-sink swipe is grabbed by Buttler behind the stumps.
Jofra Archer celebrates (ish) after taking the wicket of Aarif Sheikh. Photograph: Pankaj Nangia/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 07.55 EST
England got 45 runs in their last three overs. Nepal need 48.
17th over: Nepal 139-4, (Sheikh 11, Bam 4) New batter Lokesh Bam hits the first boundary in 15 balls with a thwock over third. Curran zones in on the pads but a fine edge from Bam skittles away fine past the keeper. Ten off the over, 46 needed from 18 balls.
Updated at 07.50 EST
16th over: Nepal 129-4, (Sheikh 3, Bam 2) Dawson finishes with 2-21 off his four overs, very impressive. Nepal need 56 from 24 balls, time to open the shoulders for some hit or bust.
ShareWICKET! Paudel c Salt b Dawson 39 (Nepal 126-4)
The game slipping away from Nepal now as Paudel is well held in the deep by Phil Salt, Nepal needed a boundary off the canny Dawson – who has been England’s rock with the ball today – but Nepal’s captain has to go after a well made 39. You suspect his side will come to rue the 45 runs England made off the final three overs of their innings.
Rohit Paudel reacts as he walks back to the pavilion after his dismissal for 39. Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 07.41 EST
15th over: Nepal 125-3, (Paudel 39, Sheikh 1) Aarif Sheikh is the new batter, he needs to stick with his captain here. Curran beats his tentative poke first ball, the required run rate creeps up to eleven with the wicket and just two singles off the over.
ShareWICKET! Dipendra Singh Airee c Banton b Curran 44 (Nepal 124-3)
Airee is caught in the deep and England breath a huge sigh of relief! The highest partnership of the match is broken.
Dipendra Singh Airee is out for 44. Photograph: Rafiq Maqbool/APShare
Updated at 07.40 EST
14th over: Nepal 123-2, (Paudel 38, Airee 44) Wow. Nineeteen runs clobbered off Adil Rashid’s third over and England’s star bowler now has 0-42! Paudel clubs a short ball over the leg side for SIX and takes a single to bring Airee on strike for the last two balls of the over. Airee marmalises a four through cover and then finishes the over with a reverse hit for SIX! What a shot. Time for a drink, England need a stiff one.
Nepal need 62 off 36 balls.
13th over: Nepal 104-2, (Paudel 30, Airee 33) Archer relieves some of the pressure with a tidy over that costs just three runs. The run rate rises above ren and Harry Brook summons Adil Rashid.
12th over: Nepal 101-2, (Paudel 28, Airee 32) Sam Curran is summoned, he starts with a wide down the leg side and his second ball is slower off cutter that is crunched through cover by Paudel! Ten runs off the over and Jofra is recalled for the next. Nepal need 84 from 48 balls and these two batters are well set.
11th over: Nepal 91-2, (Paudel 21, Airee 30) Dawson has been England’s best bowler so far, Airee slams a four over extra cover but it is just six in total from it. 94 needed from 54.
10th over: Nepal 85-2, (Paudel 20, Airee 24) Rashid returns for his second over an expensive first. Airee reverse-sweeps with aplomb for four and takes a single. Paudel then goes inside out and lofts a four over cover. Nepal are well in this game. Ten overs gone, they need 100 runs from the next ten to take England down.
9th over: Nepal 75-2, (Paudel 15, Airee 20) Such good batting from Nepal, they’ve pushed the field right back as England look to protect the boundaries but they are so quick between the wickets that they can pick off twos from the good deliveries. The crowd are going bananas for every run. England are in a scrap here, Dawson calms things down a little, just five off the over.
8th over: Nepal 70-2, (Paudel 11, Airee 19) Jacks drags down and Airee does not miss out, swatting away behind square for four. A couple of singles follow but Airee has got the bit between his teeth, swatting a length ball powerfully for four. Ten off the over. Brook calls for Dawson.
7th over: Nepal 60-2, (Paudel 10, Airee 10) Here comes Adil Rashid. Airee rocks back and carves his first ball for four behind point. Three singles brings Paudel on strike for the last ball… which he slog sweeps into the stands for SIX! Some shot that, 13 runs off the over.
6th over: Nepal 47-2, (Paudel 3, Airee 4) Dipendra Singh Airee is the new man, he’s a fan favourite who has hit six sixes off an over in a T20I and is absolutely rapid between the wickets. He settles into his work with a clip and a glide off Jacks.
ShareWICKET! Kushal Bhurtel c & b Jacks 29 (Nepal 42-2)
Chipped straight back, Jacks gets rid of the dangerous Bhurtel!
Will Jacks celebrates with Jacob Bethell after taking the wicket of Kushal Bhurtel. Photograph: Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 07.05 EST
5th over: Nepal 40-1, (Bhurtel 29, Paudel 1) Archer changes ends and sends down a tricksy over of slower balls and cutters that yield just three runs for Nepal.
4th over: Nepal 37-1, (Bhurtel 28, Paudel) Nepal’s captain Rohit Paudel is at first drop and blocks his first ball, the last of the over.
ShareWICKET! Aasif Sheikh c Wood b Dawson 7 (Nepal 37-1)
After a long conflab, Brook turns to Liam Dawson to try and claw things back. Can Nepal’s openers do it against spin too? Sheikh doesn’t even have a look at Dawson, slog sweeping his first ball over fine leg and they scamper a couple. The pitch is cloaked in shadow now… and there’s the breakthrough! Sheikh sweeps to Wood at short fine leg and the Hampshire spinner gives it the big one in celebration, England were on the ropes a bit there and his fervent celebration tells a story. The dangerous Bhurtel is the wicket they really want/need.
Luke Wood takes the catch to dismiss Aasif Sheikh. Photograph: Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 06.48 EST
3rd over: Nepal 31-0, (Sheikh 6, Bhurtel 25) Bhurtel is equally as good off the back foot it seems! He pulls Wood for four and then hangs back and pulls another short ball hight into the Mumbai sky and into the crowd for SIX. The crowd are roaring in delight and England have a problem early on. A single brings Sheikh onto strike and he whips off his pads and over midwicket with a flourish for four. 15 runs off the over, Nepal are flying at the Wankhede!
2nd over: Nepal 16-0, (Sheikh 2, Bhurtel 14) Jofra Archer with the second over and Bhurtel is not messing about. Three fours flayed in the over as the batter stays leg side of the ball and crisply drives three fours through the off side, the ball flying off his blade and making a whipcrack sound. 14 runs off the over!
1st over: Nepal 2-0, (Sheikh 1, Bhurtel 1) Tidy start from Wood, he’s full, on the money and operating at around 88MPH. Just two singles off the first.
Here come the players, Luke Wood is going to open the bowling with his left arm bustle. Khusal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh to open the batting for Nepal. The target is 185. Let’s play!
ShareEngland make 184-7
20th over: England 184-7 (Jacks 39, Dawson 1) Will Jacks launches the last ball of the innings for SIX over the off side to make it 21 runs off the final over. England will be happy with that, they had to scrap in the middle overs but broke shackles in the last three. Brook and Bethell registering important fifties and Jacks slotting some decisive blows in the later stages. Back soon for Nepal’s chase.
ShareWICKET! Archer run out (Aasif Sheikh/Karan KC (England 178-7)
Karan KC is going to bowl the last over… Jacks muscles two consecutive SIXES, one down the ground and a full toss bunted away over the off side. A single is pulled to midwicket and Archer sacrifices himself off the next ball to get Jacks back on strike. One ball to go…
19th over: England 163-5 (Jacks 18, Archer 1) Jofra Archer is promoted up the order to give it some humpty. He tickles a single to get Jacks back on strike, a huge moose from Jacks sees an under edge scuttle away for four past the keeper. Lucky lucky but England will take them. Twelve off the over, one more to go.
ShareWICKET! Harry Brook c Malla b Yadav 53 (England 157-6)
Shot! Harry Brook goes to fifty with a swaggering launch over mid on for SIX.
Gone next ball! Brook tries to smear his next ball from Nandan Yadav but his hand comes off the blade and the ball skews into the deep on the offside where Malla holds on to a tricky catch.