Rising Mount Everest nation Nepal (NEP) clashed with Rainbow Nation South Africa (SA) in Match 31 of the T20 World Cup 2024 mega cricket carnival, held at the Kingstown in St. Vincent, on Saturday, June 15.
Notably, after winning the toss, Nepal elected to field first against South Africa in the Group D fixture. Notably, both teams were playing each other for the first time in the format. In what turned out to be an absolute humdinger, South Africa held their nerves to snatch a last-ball victory from Nepal.
Batting first, South Africa lost Quinton de Kock early as he failed to build a big stand for the opening wicket with Reeza Hendricks. For the Asian side, Dipendra Singh Airee (3/21) proved to be the star with the ball as he first removed both the openers and then took the big wicket of David Miller to put South Africa in a precarious situation. Besides, Kushal Bhurtel also showed his bowling prowess and claimed a four-wicket haul (4/19) with a very economical bowling to rattle the batters of the Rainbow Nation. The star Nepal leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane made his comeback into the side after sorting out visa issues. Even though he failed to pick a wicket, he bowled tightly like a water compartment from one end to get under the skin of Proteas. As a result, South Africa slumped to 115/7 in 20 overs.
During the run chase, Nepal started cautiously with the talented Aasif Sheikh (42 off 49 balls) and Kushal Bhurtel (13 off 21) to give a 35-run start for the Everest nation. However, left-arm leg spin wizard Tabrez Shamsi had other ideas and got Nepal under the pump with his sensational spell as he went on to claim a four-wicket (4/19) haul to keep South Africa in the hunt. It turned out that what was looking like an easy run chase got trickier in the middle as Shamsi picked two crucial wickets in the 18th over to get his side back into the game. But it was Sompal Kami who tried to give Nepal a chance by smacking a six in the 19th over in the thrilling T20 World Cup 2024 encounter.
Consequently, Nepal needed eight runs in the final over. The experienced South African skipper Aiden Markram entrusted Ottneil Baartman with defending the target. In the third delivery of the over, a young Gulshan Jha carted over the cover region a wide yorker from Baartman for a four, leaving Nepal needing four runs off three balls. But the experienced pacer kept his calm and dished out two bouncers which Jha failed to connect. This mean that Nepal needed just one run in the final ball of the game. However, Heinrich Klaasen showed his fielding brilliance as he inflicted a backflick throw runout to save South Africa from a historic upset at the hands of the Asian nation.
Also Check: Also Check: T20 World Cup 2024 Points Table
South Africa vs Nepal, Match 31 - Who Said What?
Tabrez Shamsi, Player of the Match:
"Definitely relived, we came in with the goal of making it four out of four in this stage. Anywhere we go in the Caribbean, I assume that there is going to be turn. Fast bowlers did a great job in New York, but slower bowlers will have to take on the mantle. [On Nepal] I think they were brilliant, they took full advantage of the conditions. Wicket got better in the second innings, but they played a beautiful game. The huge positive is that we've been put under pressure every game and we've stood up to it every time. When this team is rolling, everyone knows their roles."
Rohit Paudel, Losing Captain:
"I think I am very proud of the unit, especially the way we bowled and batted. When we saw the wicket yesterday, we thought it would be on the slower side. When we were bowling I thought the wicket was helping the spinners so we carried on with the spinners. I think we were very close but a little far. In crunch moments we did well, I thought we fought very good. If we get more exposure to games like this, we will be on the other side [of the result]. [On the fans] I want to thank the fans for the way they have been supporting us. They come a long way, in the rain and everything, they come to support us."
Aiden Markram, Winning Captain:
"Very grateful to have got the win, we were not near our best tonight. Reflecting back on the game over the next few days, there will be a lot of learnings for us. We have a good pace attack and you want to back that. I thought if we got the ball in the right areas, it would be challenging for the batters. In hindsight, we should have picked another spinner. First and foremost, the way [Nepal] bowled it made it really tough for us. They put us under a lot of pressure. And maybe there was not enough conviction in our plans. [On moving from USA to West Indies] It has been a bit different, we spent the whole day almost doing nothing and there we'd be playing first thing in the morning. Moving forward some things may change. It's one of the big challenges of cricket, being open minded and adapting."
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