rewrite this title T20 World Cup: England complete ‘ugly’ win in Mumbai as fearless Nepal show they are not to be underestimated

When Adil Rashid is getting mowed into the stands, you know you have a problem.

England’s veteran leg-spinner, one of only six men to have taken 150 wickets or more in T20 internationals, is usually so reliable, so economical, so difficult for batters to pick.

Just not against Nepal.

While Rashid was obviously not at his best, his eye-watering figures (0-42 from three overs, economy rate of 14) owed as much to Nepal’s adventure as his inaccuracy.

The Associate nation are not at this T20 World Cup purely to make up the numbers. Their ambitions are grander than that. They want a Super 8s spot. Maybe more.

They may ultimately have fallen short against England, beaten by four runs as death bowler Sam Curran kept his cool, but they fired a warning shot to other teams with their display. Their sharp fielding. Their speedy running. Their takedown of Rashid.

Rashid’s first over was bookended by boundaries, the second of which Nepal captain Rohit Paudel slog-swept a mile over midwicket. Rashid’s next set featured two off-side fours as Paudel chipped over cover and Dipendra Singh Airee reverse swept.

Then came the real onslaught.

Halfway through his third over, Rashid was mullered over midwicket for six by Paudel. Two balls later, he was creamed through cover for four by Airee. One delivery after that, he was reverse swept into the seats over extra-cover. We did not see him again.

And, in the end, we did not see an upset either. England held their nerve and delivered when it mattered, in stark contrast to the Ashes earlier this winter when they melted at key moments.

Bowling hero Curran: I thought back to 2016 T20 World Cup final

Curran nailing his yorkers in a 20th over which began with Nepal needing 10 was crucial, with the left-arm seamer’s mind drifting back to the 2016 T20 World Cup final when West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite smoked Ben Stokes for four successive sixes.

Curran said: “I weirdly thought of that final and I was thinking ‘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 I executed.”

Curran and Jofra Archer ousting set batters Airee and Paudel before that to check the chase were other important interjections, so, too, Will Jacks cracking 21 off the final over of England’s innings.

Big runs those, it turned out.

Those games are great to win but wow, it would have been a horrible one to lose. It just shows how competitive this World Cup’s going to be. We knew it was going to be full of Nepal fans. I played a lot of cricket in India and I’ve never had an atmosphere quite like that.”

Sam Curran

Whether by the barest of margins (as it was in this last-ball thriller) or by huge margins, (as it was in Manchester in September when they thumped South Africa by 146 runs after piling on 304-2), England are making winning T20 internationals a habit.

It is now 12 victories in their last 13 completed matches in the format, including each of their last nine, across matches at home, in New Zealand, in Sri Lanka and now India.

This latest triumph was a nerve-jangling one, with their leg-spin magician off his game and defeat looking likely at various points. However, such a close-run game should sharpen England ahead of further group challenges against West Indies, Scotland and Italy.

Jacks said: “Winning ugly is a great trait. It’s incredibly difficult to replicate that experience. Hopefully when we get in that situation in the rest of the tournament – which we definitely will at some stage – we’ll be able to look back on this experience and take that with us.”

The path to the Super 8s was probably never going to run completely smooth – just look at how India and Pakistan were challenged by qualifiers on the opening day – but England are now two points closer to that after a steely finish in Mumbai.

Nepal remain on zero points for now, yet this defeat will only boost belief they can make round two.

West Indies are favourites, along with England, to nab the two qualification spots in Group C but Nepal beat the Caribbean side 2-1 in a T20 series last year.

They may also have beaten England had they not lost control with the ball at the death on Sunday. Curran went on to show Nepal’s bowlers how it is done.

It was not always pretty from England but it was gritty. And if they can marry those two traits, they are strong contenders to lift a third T20 World Cup title. It was a winning start – just.​​​​

England’s T20 World Cup fixtures and results (first round)

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