England avoid embarrassing defeat by Nepal at World T20 but face HUGE scare as they beat minnows by just four runs

A winter featuring Ashes humiliation and off-field scandal avoided a new low on Sunday when Sam Curran held his nerve to avert a scalping by minnows Nepal at the start of the Twenty20 World Cup.

Amid a weekend of nearly-shocks, England flirted with finishing off a team ranked 16th in the world in this format on multiple occasions, but lacked the killer instinct, until Curran defended 10 runs from the final over at the Wankhede Stadium.

England have a history when it comes to Twenty20 World Cups upsets, of course, losing twice to the Netherlands either side of winning their maiden title in 2010 and then to Ireland on their way to a second 12 years later. 

They might also have been felled by Scotland but for the Barbados weather at the 2024 event.

In what was the most thrilling match of the competition so far, the Nepalese refused to buckle under the pressure of requiring 46 from the final 18 deliveries as Lokesh Bam launched an astonishing late blitz, taking Jofra Archer for two sixes in an over that went for 22. Bam by name, bam by nature.

The equation had been whittled down by 36 by the time that Curran – man of the series when England were crowned champions in Australia in 2022 – was asked to be a hero once more.

With Bam on strike, and set on 35 off 15 deliveries, Curran began a spell of unerring accuracy, starting with a dot and getting the set batsman off strike next ball.

Starving his opponents of width, the requirement was six off two balls when Bam turned down a single, and failure to get under the low full toss that followed meant England completed a four-run success.

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