Nepal Ends 12-Year World Cup Win Drought by Defeating Scotland in T20 Finale

Kathmandu. Nepal ended a 12-year winless streak by defeating Scotland by 7 wickets in their final group stage match of the T20 World Cup.

Having lost the toss and opting to bat first, Scotland set a competitive total of 170 runs, losing 7 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Chasing the target, Nepal achieved the goal with only 3 wickets down with 4 balls remaining.

Dipendra Singh Airee and Sompal Kami were the heroes for Nepal today. Airee reached the victory for the team by smashing an unbeaten half-century off 23 balls. Kami put pressure on Scotland by taking an excellent 3 wickets in the bowling department.

Opener Kushal Malla contributed a crucial 43 runs off 35 balls, while Asif Sheikh scored 33 runs off 27 balls. Captain Rohit Paudel added 16 runs off 14 balls. In the middle order, Gulshan Jha provided balance to the team by scoring 24 runs off 17 balls.

At the decisive moment of the match, Nepal gained a strong position after Gulshan Jha and Dipendra Singh Airee took turns hitting three sixes each, boosting the run rate. 

Sompal delivered an excellent performance. Today, he took a crucial 3 wickets, conceding 25 runs in 4 overs. He brought a significant turning point to the game, especially in the 16th over, by taking consecutive wickets of Brandon McCullum and Michael Jones. Nandan Yadav also bowled economically, taking 2 wickets. Kushal Malla and Captain Rohit Paudel took 1 wicket each. Sandeep Lamichhane conceded 29 runs in 3 overs, while Dipendra Singh Airee gave away 23 runs in 3 overs.

Nepal has been participating in the T20 World Cup since 2014. In that edition, Nepal defeated Hong Kong and Afghanistan but lost to Bangladesh. Since then, despite participating in the 2024 edition, Nepal had failed to secure a win.

With this victory, Nepal achieved historic success in the World Cup after 12 years.

However, both Nepal and Scotland have already been eliminated from the group stage of the ongoing tournament.