Mumbai, February 8 England’s Will Jacks said his team was both “relieved” and “happy” after beating a spirited Nepal by four runs in their T20 World Cup thriller, while the Himalayan nation’s Nandan Yadav expressed both “regret” and “pride” on his side’s heroic performance here on Sunday.
England, who scored 184 for 7 after batting first, may have thought they had the game in their grasp, but Nepal remained persistent throughout their chase, reducing it to 10 runs off the final over.
Sam Curran executed his yorkers perfectly as Nepal faltered at the finish line, but it was a game in which England survived a major scare before ultimately winning.
“Full credit to Nepal. They were outstanding in the field and their running between the wickets was excellent; they just kept coming. That’s World Cup cricket. We’ve seen it already in this tournament: almost every game is tight,” Jacks told reporters after the match.
Asked if England felt relief or accomplishment, Jacks said, “Relief and happiness. We came into this game to win, and we did. Job done. But also, it’s part of preparing for what’s to come because we know we’ll be in similar situations again.”
Jacks praised Curran for his accuracy in tense moments of the thrilling finish.
“He’s very calm under pressure and thinks very clearly. He understands the game extremely well. He showed that again today.”
Nandan promised his side would improve from this experience.
“There is regret because we came very close and couldn’t get over the line, but at the same time there is pride because we are competing against very strong teams like England. Being that close shows we are improving, so overall it’s a mix of pride and regret,” he said.
Nandan said Nepal need to improve on their death overs bowling, having conceded 45 runs in the last three overs.
“For me personally, there is a lot of talk about my loose deliveries, so that’s something I need to work on. As a bowling unit, we need to focus more on death overs. We tend to concede more runs there, so that’s an area we must improve. But it’s part of the game and we accept it,” he said.
Nandan hailed the presence of the 17,000-strong crowd, mostly Nepal fans, supporting their side.
“That’s the love of our fans. Wherever we go, it feels like a home ground. I am very thankful to all the supporters. I want to say sorry for the result, but we will improve. The crowd is amazing. They love cricket and the atmosphere. We are really grateful to them,” he said.
“We are improving in a good way. Matches like this are good for us and for the crowd as well. It shows our standard is going up. If we keep playing like this, the next games will also be good for us,” he added.