T20 World Cup 2026: England Edges Past Brave Nepal By Four Runs In Nail-biting Thriller, Narrowly Avoids Upset

Mumbai: The fifth match of the T20 World Cup 2026 was played between England and Nepal, with England winning by a narrow margin of just 4 runs. The match went down to the last ball. This game took place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. England won the toss and elected to bat first. England scored 184 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in their 20 overs. However, Nepal fought hard until the very last ball and ultimately fell short by only 4 runs.

What happened in last two overs? 

In the last two overs, Nepal needed 24 runs to win from 12 balls. In the 19th over, Wood's first ball went for a boundary, followed by two consecutive wides. The second ball yielded no runs. But on the third ball, Lokesh hit another boundary. Another wide followed. The fourth ball resulted in 2 runs. The fifth ball brought 1 run. And on the last ball of the 19th over, Gulshan Jha was bowled. This meant Nepal needed 10 runs from the last 6 balls to win.

No runs were scored on the first ball of the 20th over. One run came off the second ball. Another single came off the third ball. Lokesh took 2 runs off the fourth ball. Then 6 runs were needed off two balls. Lokesh couldn't score any runs on the 5th ball. 6 runs were needed off the last ball, but Lokesh could only manage a single. England won the match by 4 runs.

How did Nepal batters perform? 

Chasing 185 runs, Nepal got off to a brilliant start. The first wicket fell in the fourth over when Aasif Sheikh was dismissed. Nepal's score was 37 at that time. Then, at a score of 42, Kushal was out. However, a good partnership followed between Rohit Paudel and Dipendra Singh. The duo took Nepal's score past 100 in the 12th over. But this partnership was broken in the 15th over when Dipendra Singh's wicket fell at a score of 124. After this, a big responsibility fell on Rohit's shoulders. But Rohit's wicket also fell in the 16th over. When Rohit was dismissed, Nepal's score was 126. Arif's wicket also fell at a total of 146.

But the excitement didn't end there. Lokesh took charge and hit two sixes off Jofra Archer in the 18th over. As a result, Nepal needed 24 runs in the last two overs.

How did England batters perform? 

Batting first, England had a very poor start. Phil Salt's wicket fell in the second over. England's score was only 5 runs at that time. After this, Buttler played a good innings. But he too was dismissed in the 5th over. Buttler scored 26 runs off 17 balls. But after these two wickets, Jacob Bethell played a brilliant and explosive fifty. He was supported by Harry Brook. Both scored fifties.

Thanks to these two fifties, England scored a total of 184 runs in 20 overs. For Nepal, Dipendra Singh and Nandan Yadav were the most successful bowlers, taking two wickets each. Sher Malla and Sandeep Lamichhane claimed one wicket apiece.

England (Playing XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood.

Nepal (Playing XI): Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Rohit Paudel, Dipendra Singh Airee, Arif Sheikh, Lokesh Bam, Gulshan Jha, Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sher Malla.