T20 WC: England survive Nepal scare, seal 4-run win in campaign opener

Mumbai, Feb 8: In a nail-biting contest that went down to the final ball, two-time World Champions England held their nerve to edge past Nepal by four runs, restricting them to 180/6 in 20 overs in their opening match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

Captain Rohit Paudel and Dipendra Singh built a strong partnership, followed by a late assault by Lokesh Ram, which helped Nepal come close to registering their first win in the T20 World Cup. However, Sam Curran bowled an excellent final over, defending 10 runs to guide England to victory in a thrilling encounter.

Coming to chase a mammoth total, Nepal were off to a good start as the opening duo of Aasif Sheikh and Kushal Bhurtel scored at a ten-plus run rate against an experienced England bowling attack.

England got their breakthrough in the fourth over when Aasif (9) went down against Luke Wood, trying to play a sweep. His opening partner, Kushal, who was looking in great touch from the start, followed suit as the 29-year-old was sent back to the pavilion by Will Jacks, who took a brilliant catch off his own bowling in the final over of the Power-play.