England held their nerves in the end to edge out Nepal in a thriller in Mumbai by 4 runs and can breathe a sigh of relief. England played well and played the clutch moments a little better than Nepal who went down fighting and gave it their all. England won the toss and elected to bat first and through explosive fifties from Jacob Bethell and captain Harry Brook and the finishing touches from Will Jacks, England posted 184/7 in 20 overs.
In reply, Nepal tried their hearts out. Rohit Paudel and Kushal Bhurtel looked good and so did Dipendra Singh Airee. Lokesh Bam almost finished things off for Nepal but Liam Dawson bowled well so did Will Jacks and Sam Curran held their nerves in the end as England won a thriller by 4 runs to get the two points with Will Jacks given the Player of the Match Award.
Explosive fifties from Jacob Bethell and captain Harry Brook powers England to 184/7
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Philip Salt and Jos Buttler opened the batting for England while Karan KC had ball in hand for Nepal. Buttler started well with a boundary but Salt went early for a low score. The duo put 5 runs for the first wicket before Salt fell for 1 off 2 balls to Sher Malla the debutant. Jacob Bethell came to the crease next. He was quick off the blocks and punished the loose balls from Malla.
Jos Buttler continued his merry ways and was timing the ball well as he got a start in the innings. Buttler and Bethell punished the Nepal bowlers and built a partnership to stabilise England. They put on 38 for the second wicket before Buttler threw his wicket away by chasing a wide delivery outside off as Nandan Yadav took the wicket. Tom Banton came out to bat next.
Bethell and Banton tried to add more runs to and added 14 for the third wicket. England were 57/2 in 6 overs at the end of the powerplay and immediately after the break for drinks, Banton tried to reverse sweep Sandeep Lamichhane and fell LBW to him for 2 off 5 balls and burns a review as well. Captain Harry Brook joined Jacob Bethell in the middle. From here the duo first played themselves in and then started to put on a show.
Bethell and Brook matches strokes for strokes and complimented each other really well. The duo came in the middle phase of the game and aced it as England kept wickets in hand for the late onslaught. Bethell got to his fifty while Brook was nearing his. The duo put on an important 71 runs off 45 balls and took the score to 128/3 in the 14th over. Bethell got to his fifty and then fell for 55 off 35 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Dipendra Singh Airee. Sam Curran came out to bat next and struggled in the middle.
Harry Brook tried to keep things moving but Sam was struggling with the bat. The duo could add 9 runs more to the tally before Curran fell for 2 off 5 balls as he was cleaned up by Airee. Will Jacks came out to bat next and made his intentions clear out there. Brook was in the mood and got to his half-century. Curran and Brook put on 20 valuable runs for the 6th wicket before Brook fell after scoring a fifty as he scored 53 off 32 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Nandan Yadav.
Jofra Archer came to the crease next. But from hereon, it was the Will Jacks show as he provided the finishing kick for England. Archer was a mere spectator. Jacks was striking it cleanly. He then hit Karan KC for three sixes in the final over. Archer sacrificed his wicket in the penultimate ball before Jacks hit the last ball for the maximum as England ended with 184/7 in 20 overs. Jacks remained unbeaten on 39 off 18 balls with one four and four sixes to his name. Liam Dawson was unbeaten on 0 off 0 balls. 5 extras given by the fielding side.
Nepal bowled decently out there. Nandan Yadav finished with 2/25 in 3 overs. Dipendra Singh Airee finished with 2/23 in 3 overs. Sandeep Lamichhane finished with 1/25 in 4 overs. Sher Malla finished with 1/35 in 3 overs. Karan KC gave away 35 runs in 3 overs. Kushal Bhurtel gave away 40 runs in 4 overs. This meant Nepal needed 185 runs to win the game in 20 overs.
Liam Dawson stars with ball as England hold nerve to stave off spirited Nepal by 4 runs
Chasing 185 for an unlikely win, Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh came out to open the batting for Nepal while Luke Wood had ball in hand for England. Nepal got off to a decent start in the chase and started well. Bhurtel was off the blocks quickly and dominated the first partnership while Sheikh was a mere spectator. The duo put on 37 for the first wicket in 3.5 overs before Sheikh fell for 7 off 9 balls with one boundary to his name to Liam Dawson. Captain Rohit Paudel came out to bat next.
Bhurtel looked good out there but he too fell inside the powerplay as he fell for 29 off 17 balls with 4 fours and one six to his name to Will Jacks inside the powerplay. Dipendra Singh Airee came out to bat next. The powerplay score was 47/2 in 6 overs for Nepal. Paudel and Airee then got together and built a partnership that would lay the platform for Nepal’s challenge. The duo matches strokes for strokes and Airee took special liking to England’s Adil Rashid and hit him for plenty and for a change he went for runs.
The duo looked unstoppable and accelerated at the right time to charge the innings forward. The duo brought the required rate under control at around 10 runs an over as 62 was needed off 36 balls at one stage. The duo put on 82 runs special partnership for the third wicket before Airee fell for 44 off 29 balls with 6 fours and one six to his name. Aarif Sheikh came to the middle next. England got another wicket bang bang as the captain Paudel fell for the addition of 2 more runs to the score as Paudel scored 39 off 34 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name.
Lokesh Bam came out to bat next and he provided the finishing kick as the required rate shot up once again with wickets falling. Lokesh and Aarif added 20 runs for the 5th wicket and valuable at that before Aarif fell for 10 off 8 balls with one six to his name to Jofra Archer. Gulshan Jha came out to bat next.
But from here, it was Lokesh putting up a show as Archer was taken to the cleaners. The equation came down to 24 runs off 12 balls for Nepal when Luke Wood got the ball. He bowled a lot of wides and Lokesh hit him also for boundaries and sixes. Jha was a spectator in the 29 run stand and with 10 needed off 7 balls, Jha was cleaned up by Luke Wood for 1 off 2 balls. Karan KC came to the middle with 10 needed off 6 balls. Lokesh was on strike and Sam Curran was the bowler.
Curran showed his experience and held his nerve not to give away a boundary and only singles came. In the end, with 6 needed off 1 ball, Lokesh could only manage a single as England got out of jail to win by 4 runs as Nepal finished with a spirited reply of 180/6 in 20 overs. 10 extras given by England and all of them wides as Lokesh remained unbeaten on 39 off 20 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name.
England bowled decently and held their nerves in the end. Liam Dawson was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/21 in 4 overs. Sam Curran bowled splendidly under pressure and finished with 1/27 in 4 overs. Will Jacks finished with 1/17 in 2 overs. Luke Wood finished with 1/31 in 3 overs. Jofra Archer finished with 1/42 in 4 overs. Adil Rashid went for 42 runs in 3 overs in a rare off day for him. So, England win by 4 runs in a thriller in Mumbai. Will Jacks for his all-round performance was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead.Â
So, another thriller where England held their nerves to win this game by 4 runs. Next-up for England will be a clash against West Indies in Mumbai soon in a couple of nights while Nepal will face Scotland next. More action to come in World Cup 2026 as co-hosts Sri Lanka begin their campaign against Ireland in the third game of the day in Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Let’s see how this clashes pan out going forward.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: Twin Fifties From Jacob Bethell & Harry Brook Powers England To 184/7