‘It shows that we belong here’: Rohit Paudel

Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel proud of his team despite 1-run defeat to SA, says the fightback will boost his side’s confidence; Shamsi claims four wickets for victors

Skipper Rohit Paudel believes Nepal have done enough in the T20 World Cup to show they belong at the highest level even though they have fallen out of reckoning for Super Eight round.

Nepal fell agonisingly short of realising their dream of beating a full member side when they lost to South Africa by a mere run in a low-scoring thriller here.

Rohit Paudel

Nepal needed two runs from the last ball of the match to win, one run to match South Africa’s modest total of 115-7 and force a Super Over. But teenager Ghulsan Jha was run out at the non-striker’s end attempting a single from the final ball and South Africa held on to win a thrilling match. The Nepal players were disconsolate. They seemed to be headed for Nepal’s first win in 12 attempts against a ICC full member nation when they needed 22 runs from the last 24 balls.

They needed 18 runs from 18 balls, but lost three wickets for one run within six balls including two wickets to spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (4-19) and the equation changed.
“The way we played today; it shows that we belong here. The way we bowled and the way we batted also, I think we belong here. This will give good confidence to us for the next game against Bangladesh,” Paudel told the media here after Nepal’s heartbreaking defeat.

“I am very proud of the unit, especially the way they played today. The way we bowled in the first innings and the way we batted, especially in the last few moments where we could have capitalised on our side, but it went their way,” he said.

Brief scores
South Africa 115-7 in 20 overs (R Hendricks 43; K Bhurtel 4-19, D Airee 3-21) beat Nepal 114-7 in 20 overs (A Sheikh 42; T Shamsi 4-19) by one run

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