Nepal fell narrowly short of a sensational upset as England emerged victorious by just 4 runs in their T20 World Cup 2026 Group C clash at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday (February 8).

Opting to bat first, the two-time champions posted 184/7 in their allotted 20 overs on the back of half-centuries from Jacob Bethell (55 off 35) and captain Harry Brook (53 off 32) and a fiery cameo from Will Jacks (39 off 18).

Nepal's chase was powered by strong contributions from Rohit Paudel (39 off 34) and Dipendra Singh Airee (44 off 29) and Lokesh Bam (39 off 20), but England's bowlers struck at crucial moments, leaving the underdogs just short of the target.

All-rounder Sam Curran held his nerve to defend 10 runs in the final over, restricting Nepal to 180/6.

Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel was left immensely proud of his team as they came close to scripting history against one of the heavyweight sides in the competition.

“Disappointment is there, but at the same time I’m very proud of the team,” Paudel told former England captain Nasser Hussain in the post-match interview. “The way the boys have shown that effort against England, that takes a lot of appreciation. When we stepped up today on the ground, the only message to the group was that whatever we have, we’ll give a 110% in the ground. And I think boys have given all that they had, and that’s what makes them different, and I’m very proud of them.”

Paudel also made it clear that Nepal aren’t just here to make up numbers at the World Cup. “We had that belief when we came to this World Cup. We didn’t come here to just participate. We wanted to compete, and we had that belief in the group that we can beat any of the sides, if we play our best brand of cricket, and I thought today we played our best brand of cricket.”

The rued his team’s death bowling, especially the last over going for 21 runs and the previous two going for 12 each.

“Yes, in that area, we can improve. I thought England were also struggling with the death over bowling, but last over, Sam Curran bowled really well. It’s hard for bowlers in death overs to bowl. Especially to execute those yorkers and slow bouncers. So I thought we missed it on that part, but at the same time, I think we’ll improve there,” Paudel acknowledged.

With their next match scheduled against Italy, Paudel said no team should be taken lightly. “We will not take any of the teams lightly, and I think all other teams in this tournament will not take any of the associate teams or any teams lightly. So that’s a message, but we as a team need to be on our 100%.”

After losing the last-over thriller, Nepal players received standing ovation from fans at the iconic venue in Mumbai. Paudel and his men took a lap of appreciation at the end, thanking their passionate fans.

“Our fans, they’re very passionate. If you see today, whole, Nepal came here to support us, and that’s great to see them here, and that motivates us. When we go to the ground, we carry your hopes, we carry your belief, and I thought, I think today we gave everything, and I think today, all Nepal would be very proud of all of us,” Paudel concluded.