Curran holds his nerve to deny Nepal a famous win

Sam Curran saved England the blushes in Mumbai as they eked out a four-run win over Nepal in a thriller at the Wankhede Stadium. With Nepal needing just 10 off the last over in the chase of 185, Curran conceded just five runs. It was another heartbreaking defeat for Nepal in ICC T20 World Cups following their one-run loss to South Africa in the previous edition.

Dipendra Singh Airee (44) and Lokesh Bam pushed Nepal close with the bat after Jacob Bethell (55) and Harry Brook (53) scored fifties in the first innings. Will Jacks' cameo of 39* off 18, including a 21-run takedown of Karan KC in the final over proved to be the difference between the two sides.

In the chase, Kushal Bhurtel drove Jofra Archer thrice through the offside to the boundary in stunning fashion as Nepal began confidently chasing a big score. He followed it up with a four and a six before Aasif Sheikh flicked one to the fence as Nepal raced away to 31 for 0 in three overs. With runs flowing, Liam Dawson struck in his first over as Aasif top-edged a sweep to fine-leg. The wicket halted the scoring rate which eventually led to the fall of the ominous Bhurtel, providing Jacks an easy return catch.

When Adil Rashid came into the attack in the seventh over, Nepal began to play their shots once again with 13 coming off the leggie's first over. Dipendra Singh Airee carried on from there taking the attack to Jacks as well. He put the sweep and reverse-sweep to good use as England continued to leak runs in the middle-overs. In the 14th over, Rohit Paudel and Airee took 19 off Rashid's third over as the veteran conceded the highest number of runs by an England spinner in T20 World Cups - 42.

The big over off Rashid was unfortunately followed by the wicket of Airee for Nepal, who holed out to Tom Banton at deep cover for 44, ending the 82-run stand. Paudel fell to Dawson (4-0-21-2) as England clawed back all the momentum. Bam, however, led a thrilling riposte as he hit a couple of boundaries off Sam Curran to bring the equation down to 46 off the last three overs. Bam continued to smoke the ball, hitting Archer for three sixes and taking 22 off it as the equation came down to 24 off 12.

Bam hit Luke Wood for four off the first ball before lofting one over the mid-off fielder to take it down to 10 off the last over, which proved to be a little too much thanks to the heroics of Curran, who nailed his yorkers in a repeat of his role from the 2022 World Cup.

Earlier, England elected to bat on a used surface - the same one that was used in last night's India vs USA game, amongst a sea of Nepal fans at the Wankhede. They had a wobble early on as Sher Malla picked up Phil Salt off his first ball in T20Is. Bethell got on top of him as he smashed three short deliveries with disdain.

Jos Buttler hit four boundaries in quick time before edging behind to the 'keeper but Bethell continued to have fun against Malla as England ended the PowerPlay on 57 for 2. Leggie Sandeep Lamichhane struck off his first ball as Banton missed a reverse sweep and was trapped plumb in front on the pads. Bethell brought up his 50 with back-to-back sixes while Brook took Lamichhane apart through the offside.

Airee picked up Bethell for 55 and scalped Curran (2 off 8). Lamichhane then ended his spell with a one-run over in the 17th before Brook brought up his 50 with a maximum in the 18th, but fell off the very next ball. The last over proved to be the game-changer as Jacks got hold off Karan KC and deposited him for three sixes in a 21-run over. Ironically, the last ball of England's innings went for a six which was the exact equation Nepal needed off the last ball while chasing.

Brief Scores: England 184/6 in 20 overs (Jacob Bethell 55, Harry Brook 53; Dipendra Singh Airee 2-23, Nandan Yadav 2-25) beat Nepal 180/6 in 20 overs (Dipendra Singh Airee 44, Lokesh Bam 39*; Liam Dawson 2-21, Will Jacks 1-17) by four runs