Nepal went down to South Africa by one run in the Group D clash of the T20 World Cup, falling short of the target of 116 after a run out on the last ball when two were needed for a win.

Nepal denied historic victory by South Africa

Nepal had never defeated a Full Member in any format of the game and were on course to scripting history, needing 31 off 38 balls with eight wickets in hand at one stage. At St Vincent, the Asian team were looking for a memorable win when South Africa pulled it back, barely hanging on to keep their winning streak alive in the competition.

Nepal could make only 23 runs in the last 30 balls, with the equation reading 16 in the last two overs. Anrich Nortje conceded eight in the penultimate over despite a huge 105-metre six from Sompal Kami, with Nepal requiring eight off the last six.

A chaotic last over

Ottneil Baartman started the 20th over by bowling two dots before a four by Gulshan Jha brought Nepal back into the game. A two was followed by a dot and two more were needed off the last ball.

However, Jha was out at the non-striker’s end as they scampered for a bye, leading to an agonising defeat by one run for Nepal. Jha had missed the ball as both batters ran off for a bye. Quinton de Kock threw the ball towards the bowler, but it hit Jha's back, who was running to the non-striker end.

Fortunately for South Africa, it deflected off Jha's back to Heinrich Klaasen, who was standing right by the pitch-side. Jha didn't notice Klaasen had collected the ball, and was casual in sprinting and dragging his bat inside the crease. Klaasen took the opportunity to throw the stumps down, catching Jha inches short.

A spirited bowling performance by Nepal

Earlier in the day, Nepal restricted South Africa to just 115-7, with their spinners ruling the roost. Dipendra Singh Airee took 3-21, including the wickets of de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, and David Miller. Sandeep Lamichhane, in his international return, was impressive too (0-18), but it was another leg spinner who stole the show, Kushal Bhurtel. The Nepal opening batter took 4-19 in his four overs as the South African batters found it tough to line him up as the surface in St Vincent provided grip and turn to the Nepalese spinners.

Nepal knocked out

With this loss, Nepal are eliminated from the tournament with no wins from three games and a point from a washout. A win would have kept them alive, taking them above the Netherlands (two points) in the league.

If Bangladesh win their remaining encounter against Nepal, they will qualify for the Super Eights. If they lose, and Netherlands win against Sri Lanka, it will come down to net run rate. Anything less than a Netherlands victory will see them get knocked out and Bangladesh qualify.

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