Nepal’s grit wins applause after narrow loss to England

Nepal’s heroic performance against two-time champions England in their opening game at the Twenty20 World Cup on Sunday received widespread praise from cricketing corners, with former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn offering his services to the tier-two member of the International Cricket Council.

Nepal missed out on a famous group stage win by four runs despite a spirited run-chase against England’s 184, prompting Steyn to tweet praising the performance and offer his guidance.

“That’s a big thing for us. A legend who ruled cricket for 10 years is tweeting about us,” Nepal pacer Nandan Yadav told reporters in Mumbai after the match, on Steyn’s offer.

“But it’s up to the management team, so we cannot approach him directly. Maybe we could, I am not sure how to answer that one.”

Yadav, who picked up two wickets for 25 in his three overs against England, added the result is a sign of the team’s progress, echoing remarks from captain Rohit Paudel, who said that the side is not in the tournament just to add numbers.

England cling on to beat Nepal in last-ball thriller

“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,” Yadav said. “Being that close shows we are improving, so overall it’s a mix of pride and regret.”

Nepal’s strong performance was also praised by England batter and the player of the match Will Jacks, who admitted the opposition pushed them to the edge.

“I think full credit to Nepal. They were absolutely brilliant,” Jacks, who scored an unbeaten 39 off 18 and provided the late surge to England’s innings, told reporters.

“We saw that this was tricky when we batted, but they played against us really very well and they really took us close there.

“All in all they were tactically very good. They’ve obviously pushed us right to the edge there.”

Nepal’s performance capped the weekend action at the ongoing T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka where the lower-ranked teams such as the US and the Netherlands also pushed India and Pakistan, respectively.