T20 World Cup 2024: South Africa evade upset, beat Nepal
In what could have been another upset, South Africa beat Nepal in the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup Group D match in Kingstown. Nepal fell a run short while chasing 116. Eight runs were required off the final over. Tabraiz Shamsi took four wickets, including two in his final over. Kushal Bhurtel and Dipendra Singh shared seven wickets as SA were restricted to 115/7.
SA lose the plot in middle overs
SA lost Quinton de Kock early (22/1) after being invited to bat. However, Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram took them past 60. Although Hendricks held one end, SA's scoring rate remained low. SA plunged from 68/1 to 97/5 in the middle overs as Bhurtel did the damage. Tristan Stubbs's unbeaten 27(18) guided SA to 115/7 in 20 overs. The final over produced two wickets.
Nepal falter in final moments
Nepal openers Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh denied SA early breakthroughs. They added 35 runs before the former fell to Shamsi, who sent back Rohit Paudel in the same over. Sheikh and Anil then shared a 50-run stand (85/2). However, Nepal suffered a middle-order collapse (100/6). Death-over spells from Shamsi and Anrich Nortje dented Nepal's chase. They couldn't score eight runs in the final over.
Bhurtel takes historic four-fer
Bhurtel was the pick of Nepal's bowlers as he took four wickets for 19 runs in four overs. He dismissed Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada on the innings' final two balls. Notably, Bhurtel became the first Nepal bowler with a four-wicket haul in T20 World Cups. Dipendra Singh earlier dismissed de Kock and returned to remove David Miller and Hendricks.
Shamsi turned the tide for SA
Shamsi's final spell brought back SA in the hunt after Nepal were crusing at 85/2. He dismissed both Dipendra and a set Aasif Sheikh in his final over, which brought down SA to 100/5. Shamsi overall took four wickets for just 19 runs in four overs. The left-arm wrist-spinner now owns 82 wickets from 66 T20Is at 21.35.
SA attain these unique feats
SA now own five one-run wins in T20I cricket, the most, as per Cricbuzz. The Proteas successfully defended the second-lowest target in Men's T20 World Cups. Their 114 against against Bangladesh earlier in the tournament still tops this list. Overall, SA successfully defended their joint second-lowest target in T20I cricket. They also defended a 116-run target against Sri Lanka in 2013.
Nepal could have scripted history
Nepal have not beaten a full-member side in T20I cricket. They beat Afghanistan in 2014, but the Afghans attained the full-member status only in 2017. Notably, Nepal and SA hadn't clashed in T20Is before this match. Nepal now have 49 wins from 87 matches in T20I cricket. They have lost 34, while one match was decided through Super Over.
Nepal out of conention; focus on Bangladesh, Netherlands
Nepal's campaign could have been alive with a win. They now stay behind Netherlands at fourth in Group D. Nepal have one point and can't go beyond three. South Africa (qualified with eight points) and Bangladesh (four points) occupy the top-two spots. Third-placed Netherlands (two points) still have an opportunity to edge out Bangladesh in this race if the latter lose their final match.
