Nepal was defeated by one run at 114 for 7 (Aasif 42, Sah 27, Shamsi 4-19) by South Africa 115 for 7 (Hendricks 43, Stubbs 27*, Bhurtel 4-19, Airee 3-21).
Nepal’s thrilling match against South Africa ended in sadness for both the team and their supporters in Kingstown, as they lost by just one run.
Both players and fans broke down in tears when Nepal was knocked out of the T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight competition. Tabraiz Shamsi’s 4 for 19 helped South Africa win four out of the five matches in the group stage, securing their victory with an impressive 18th over.
But Nepal appeared to be losing the game for a very long time. Even on a challenging, shifting surface, their seamers had woven a web to restrict South Africa to a pitiful 115 for 7, and with seven wickets remaining, they were able to reduce the deficit to 25 needed from 30 balls with the bat.
However, Shamsi, who replaced Keshav Maharaj, upset the odds by taking two wickets in the eighteenth over, including the set batsman Aasif Sheikh (42 off 49). After that, the required rate was upped, but Sompal Kami and 18-year-old Gulsan Jha’s two late runs reduced the score to two off two balls. Nevertheless, Nepal failed to get bat on the ball both times because to Ottneil Baartman’s two dots, and their final-gasp attempt at a run proved to be just inches short.
SA’s too circumspect debut
South Africa started the game a little too carefully and, in doing so, batted conservatively when the circumstances were ideal for batting, possibly still traumatised by their previous tournament experiences.
Although South Africa’s powerplay score of 38 for 1 was their best of the competition, they were guilty of holding off on bowlers outside their lines until after loose deliveries. In contrast, Nepal hardly ever deviated from their lines and lengths, and once the spinners gained control, they never looked back.
SA collapses as Nepali spinners
From that moment on, South Africa rarely appeared at ease against the turning ball as Sandeep Lamichhane’s opening delivery, which gripped and spun past Reeza Hendricks‘ defence at 6.2 degrees, set the pattern. In his maiden tournament outing, Lamichhane would finish wicketless, but in Nepal’s first match played outside of the United States, his probing stint yielded just 18 runs. However, Nepal had sufficient overs of spin in the form of Dipendra Singh Airee (3 for 21) and Kushal Bhurtel (4 for 19) to take advantage of the circumstances; the pair took all seven South African wickets.
Also read: T20 World Cup 2024: NEP vs SA, Match 31 Highlights
Despite posting run-a-ball partnerships of 22 and 46 for the first two wickets, South Africa was unable to raise the ante in their attempt to navigate the conditions with stability. At a strike rate over 100, only Tristan Stubbs (who struck 27 in 18 balls from No. 8) achieved this feat.
Including the last over of the innings, Nepal bowled spin for a total of 14 overs. There, Bhurtel took two wickets for nine runs, and Nepal, having given up just 57 in the opening ten overs, only gave up 58 runs for six wickets in the tail end.
Aasif and Sah keep up the chase
Kagiso Rabada lost a catch, giving Nepal an early relief. Nepal then decided to play risk-free cricket, coasting to 32 at the end of the powerplay without dropping a wicket. But since spin is so important in the game, Shamsi’s introduction was always going to be important, and it was.
He rattled both Bhurtel’s and Rohit Paudel’s stumps in his opening over, launching South Africa back into the contest. Both Aasif and Anil Sah attempted to rebuild after seeing out Shamsi’s subsequent over. After Anrich Nortje hit two boundaries to up their rate and Shamsi hit a six to give them a real chance to win, Sah was the first to up the ante. Rabada was taken for six and four by Sheikh, who joined in an over later. In just 36 deliveries, the two had reached their fifty partnership.
Shamsi’s 18-over pilfer
South Africa understood they would need to time Shamsi’s return to perfection because they only had one frontline spinner in the XI. Airee was determined to remain with the set Sheikh, even though Aiden Markram’s part-time breaks had broken the Sah-Sheikh stand.
Enter Shamsi, though. His third delivery of the eighteenth turned down the leg side, but Quinton de Kock was touched lightly by Airee’s attempted pull. Airee examined it, assuming he hadn’t touched it because the contact was so mild. Subsequently, Shamsi plucked the largest fish from his last delivery, tearing it past Aasif’s bat and pad and smashing it into the stumps. Nepal required 16 off 12 by the time he was finished.
Baartman maintains composure
The penultimate over was bowled by Nortje, who followed Shamsi’s over with four straight dots, including one that removed the top of Kushal Malla’s middle stump. Nepal needed at least one big hit before it was too late, meaning they needed to be 16 off of 8.
Then, to cut the deficit to eight off the last over, Kami unleashed a devastating 105-meter pull that sent the ball flying over the bleachers. In an attempt to record what could become history, the young Jha struck a boundary over cover to make it four runs off three balls. The Nepali supporters got up and took pictures.
Nepal demonstrated that they grasped the brief exactly with a hard-run two off the next ball, but Baartman’s two beautifully timed slower bouncers off the next two deliveries proved too brilliant to let go of.
Maybe a Super Over after a frantic attempt to run off a bye off the last delivery, but Heinrich Klaasen, who was waiting close to the stumps, picked up the ball as it deflected off Jha and flipped it to the non-striker’s end. Nepal had already left and Jha was short.
India
