In the end it really did come down to Karan KC versus Curran, SM. Four runs split the sides in Mumbai and the two 20th overs could hardly have looked more different. Karan leaked 21 – three of them monster sixes from Will Jacks – while Curran kept nailing that block-hole, giving away only five and dragging England over the line.
Both captains felt those last six balls settled it. “Unbelievable,” Harry Brook said. “We were both fairly calm out there. He knew exactly what he was going to try and do, and he executed outstandingly.” Rohit Paudel, gracious in defeat, pointed to the same passage. “England were also struggling with the death-over bowling but [in the] last over, Sam Curran bowled really well,” he admitted. “It is hard for bowlers in the death overs to bowl, especially… to execute those yorkers, those slower bouncers. We missed on that part, but at the same time, I think we’ll improve from there.”
Curran’s plan was simple enough: back six yorkers or go down trying. Oddly, the inspiration came from an uncomfortable place – Ben Stokes’ ill-fated 2016 T20 World Cup final over. “I said to Brooky, ‘I’m backing six yorkers here, and I’ll take the hit if I don’t execute’. I think you’ve got to think like that,” Curran told TMS. “I weirdly thought of the 2016 final, when Carlos got hold of Stokesy, and I was thinking, ‘Well, if I execute, he’s not going to hit me for six.’ At the top of my mark, I just watched [the batter’s] feet and thankfully executed. Those games are great if you win, but it would have been a horrible one to lose.”
The margin says plenty about Nepal’s progress. Curran called their effort proof of “how competitive this World Cup is going to be”, especially after the Netherlands and the USA also gave big-name sides a fright the previous evening. “Fair play to Nepal, they were absolutely incredible,” he said. “I was pretty nervous there, but we got it done. It just shows the strength in depth in world cricket at the moment. The Associate nations are playing more often and they’re getting so much better. They’re getting exposed to better cricket and better grounds… They are a dangerous team throughout this World Cup so we’ll watch out for them.”
Brook had a juggling act in the field. Adil Rashid’s three wicketless overs cost 42, forcing the skipper into improvised combinations. Curran, unused until the 12th, still finished with 1 for 27, the breakthrough wicket of Dipendra Singh Airee ending a stand of 81 with Paudel. “I said, ‘We put two or three wickets on this and it all changes’, and we didn’t quite get the rewards,” Brook reflected. “But we managed to stick to our guns and we stayed calm out there.
“We have so many options out there. I don’t think Sam bowled until a lot later on than usual in the 20 overs. Obviously it wasn’t ideal Rash getting a little bit of tap there; it’s not often that he doesn’t bowl four overs as well. It’s just one of [those] days for him.”
A glance at the scorecard will underline the thin margins. England’s 176 for 6 owed much to Jacks’ late burst – his 34 off 12 balls the difference between par and imposing. Nepal, chasing, were helped by Paudel’s brisk 54 and Airee’s clean strikes, yet they still needed 22 off the final two overs. Mark Wood conceded only eight in the 19th, setting up Curran’s closing act.
Numbers tell a part of the tale: at the death (overs 16-20), England shipped 38; Nepal 55. That differential, plus Curran’s unflinching yorker length, decided it. It was hardly a flawless England display, yet a win banked at the start of a long tournament is no small thing. As Brook put it, the camp will take the points, a few learnings – and, thanks to Curran, a calmer heartbeat than they might have feared half an hour earlier.
