Dipendra Singh Airee aces see-saw chase as Nepal sign off with a win

The sea of travelling fans from Nepal finally had something to cheer about as their team ended their T20 World Cup campaign on a winning note. Dipendra Singh Airee was the star, with his unbeaten 50 vaulting Nepal to a 7-wicket win over Scotland in their final Group C fixture at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday (February 17).

In pursuit of 171, Nepal began slowly with just 26 runs coming off the first four overs. The ploy to keep wickets in hand seemed to work though. Aasif Sheikh broke free with a six before Kushal Bhurtel took Mark Watt to the cleaners as 23 runs came off a fifth over studded with a heap of boundaries. Nepal ended the PowerPlay at 56/0 - their highest ever in that phase in all T20 World Cup games.

Bhurtel continued to pick out the fence but there was a twist in the tale when off-spinner Michael Leask came into the attack. He induced three false shots off three slog-sweeps to send Nepal from 74/0 to 98/3 in a span of 4.2 overs. Bhurtel fell to a good catch from Tom Bruce who ran back at mid-wicket, while Aasif Sheikh's top-edge found short third man. Captain Rohit Paudel miscued his shot to deep backward square leg, leaving Nepal in trouble.

The equation then came down to 65 runs needed off 31 balls before Gulsan Jha slammed a straight six off Oliver Davidson. Airee then turned the game on its head - against Leask no less, beginning the 16th over with consecutive sixes as 23 runs came off it. A couple of smartly placed boundaries off Brad Currie then followed as Scotland felt the heat and despite Brad Wheal's best efforts in keeping things tight, Airee continued to go big, bringing the equation down to 15 off the last two overs. Currie's yorkers took the game to the final over but after Airee got his fifty off just 23 balls, Jha found the wide long on fence for the winning hit. George Munsey put his body on the line to try and cut off the boundary but it went in vain, while also seemingly leaving him in pain.

Earlier in the evening, Scotland began positively after being asked to bat first with Michael Jones playing the aggressor's role. The right-handed opener played a host of outstanding shots while also taking the aerial route with ease, even as Munsey was unusually pedestrian by his standards.

Leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane's torrid run in the tournament continued as Jones welcomed him with a six off his first ball. He soon reached his fifty but Munsey perished off the last ball of the tenth over for a rusty 27. Brandon McMullen looked in solid touch himself as Lamichhane continued to travel. There was a bemusing moment where Sundeep Jora shelled a skier but his teammates celebrated under the presumption of a catch. That was turned down by the replays, but Sompal Kami then got into the act, outclassing Jones with a fantastic knuckle ball from around the wicket to clean him up.

A couple of deliveries later, Kami held onto a one-handed stunner off his own bowling to dismiss McMullen and the incoming batters found the going tough. Richie Berrington fell right after Paudel rammed into Lokesh Bam in the deep, causing a brief halt in play. Thereafter, a masterful death bowling display, which saw Kami and Nandan Yadav mix their cutters and yorkers well, saw Nepal chip away at the wickets. Kami ended with a third, although a last-ball six from Watt took Scotland to a round total of 170. While at one point it seemed as though it would suffice, Airee's heroics deemed the notion null and void, with both Nepal and Scotland ending their campaign with a solitary win apiece.

Brief Scores: Scotland 170/7 in 20 overs (Michael Jones 71, Brandon McMullen 25, Sompal Kami 3-25, Nandan Yadav 2-34) lost to Nepal 171/3 in 19.2 overs (Dipendra Singh Airee 50*, Kushal Bhurtel 43, Michael Leask 3-30) by 7 wickets