AIREE LATE SHOW LEADS NEPAL TO VICTORY IN MUMBAI
Dipendra Singh Airee blasted 50 from 23 deliveries to earn Nepal a first-ever ICC Men's T20 World Cup victory, as they defeated Scotland by seven wickets.
Scotland posted 170-7 batting first behind a terrific 71 from Michael Jones - but once again failed to capitalise on an excellent platform, when sat at 131-1 with five overs remaining.
Nepal's response ebbed and flowed, with both sides enjoying periods on top, and Scotland looked in command when Michael Leask had struck three times, to leave the chasing side requiring 59 from 30 deliveries.
But up stepped Airee, as the 'Cardiac Kids' lived up to the moniker, combining with Gulshan Jha to add an unbroken 73 from just 36 deliveries, as Nepal reached their target with four balls remaining.
Richie Berrington said: "We're really pleased, with the preparation we've had, how we've competed in all these fixtures.
"There's some frustration there because we saw this as a great opportunity to show what we can do on the world stage, and I think in three games we got ourselves in a strong position, and maybe that lack of match time showed in key moments.
"It's definitely a huge positive for me, the way the team has come out and the cricket we've played throughout this tournament."
Nepal had their death bowling to thank for being in with a chance at chasing down Scotland's total, as the imperious Jones, supported by George Munsey (29) and Brandon McMullen (25) drove his side into a commanding position.
But Sompal Kami and Nandan Yadav were superb in the closing overs with their slower balls, conceding just 39 runs for the loss of six wickets in the final five, as Scotland's middle-order failed to fire for the first time this tournament.
The momentum was with Nepal entering their innings, and openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh carried that on, bringing up their 50 partnership inside the powerplay, sharing a 74-run opening wicket partnership.
But the introduction of spin, and in particular Michael Leask, swung the game back towards Scotland. Leask struck to remove both openers, Bhurtel for 43 and Sheikh for 33, before also dismissing Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel (16).
Paudel's dismissal left Nepal 98-3 in the 14th over - six consecutive overs of spin seeing Nepal scoring just one boundary, three wickets falling for the addition of 28 runs.
But the final ball of Olly Davidson's spell was dispatched for six by Jha, before Airee took 20 from Leask's final over, to once again swing the game in Nepal's favour.
And this time they would not relent, as Airee and Jha guided their side to a historic victory.