Nepal give South Africa a reality check before Super 8 stage despite heartbreaking one-run defeat in T20 World Cup 2024

Once again, South Africa survived a massive scare in a low-scoring clash in the T20 World Cup 2024. Nepal had a golden chance to beat a Test-playing nation but they botched it up. After restricting the target to 116, Nepal batters lacked the experienced to finish the game. In a last-ball thriller, Nepal lost to the Proteas by just one run. 
 

Hendricks among runs

Earlier, Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel won the toss and opted to field first. The first boundary off the bat came in the third over via an inside edge. Dipendra Singh Airee got the breakthrough as De Kock got out caught and bowled. Reeza Hendricks hit a couple of boundaries to release pressure. South Africa were 38/1 after powerplay overs. In the eighth over, Hendricks hit the first six of the innings off Kushal Malla. Playing his first match of T20 World Cup 2022, Sandeep Lamicchane did not let Proteas batters off the hook. South Africa were 57/1 at the halfway stage. 

Stubbs’ crucial cameo amidst collapse

In the 11th over, Hendricks' catch was dropped. Kushal Bhurtel broke the partnership. Markram got bowled as he dragged the ball on to the stumps. He scored 15 runs from 22 balls. Lamichhane would have got his maiden wicket of the tournament but Heinrich Klaasen's catch was dropped. But the dropped catch did not turn out to be expensive. Klaasen became Bhurtel’s second victim of the evening. Dipendra came back into the attack to dismiss Hendricks. The opener scored 43 runs from 49 balls. Dipendra in his last over got the wicket of David Miller. Tristan Stubbs’ 17-ball 28 cameo helped South Africa post 115/7. On the last two balls, Bhurtel dismissed Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada.

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Solid start to run chase

Rabada dropped a catch off his own bowling in the second over to Aasif Sheikhn. He rubbed salt on his wounds with a boundary. Bhurtel hit the first six of the innings against Jansen in the third over. After powerplay overs, Nepal were 32/0. Tabraiz Shamsi who replaced Keshav Maharaj in the side struck twice in his first over. Bhurtel got bowled for a 21-ball 13. Skipper Paudel got bowled as well as he went for the drive and missed the ball. Nepal were 48/2 after 10 overs. Anil Sah provided much-needed boost to the scoring rate with two boundaries off Anrich Nortje in the 11th over. Sah targetted Shamsi and hit him for a six over wide long off. Rabada came back into the attack but Sheikh hit him for a four and a massive six. 

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Nepal’s batting implodes

Nepal needed 34 runs from 42 balls. Skipper Markram introduced himself into the attack and got the wicket of Sah who went for an unnecessary slog. He scored 27 runs from 24 balls. After Sah's wicket, boundaries dried up. The pressure mounted on Dipendra as he played a few dot balls. In the 18th over, Shamsi struck twice to dismiss Dipendra and Sheikh. Dipendra scored six runs from 11 balls. Sheikh departed for a 49-ball 42. In last two overs, Nepal needed 16 runs. Malla got bowled by Nortje as he attempted a big shot. Kami infused life in the run chase with a 105-metre six. In the final over, Nepal needed eight runs. Ottneil Baartman bowled two dot balls but then Gulsan Jha hit him for a boundary. On the fourth ball, he found the gap and took a couple of runs. On the penultimate delivery, no run was scored. On the last ball, he ran for byes but was run out as Nepal missed a chance to pull off a great upset. 

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