England narrowly escaped a humiliating defeat as Nepal looked close to delivering an unexpected result at the T20 World Cup 2026. As per the rules of the game, there is only one winner between two teams, and England is the winner of today’s (February 8) match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
After a nail-biting encounter, England white-ball captain Harry Brook wished the Nepal cricket team all the best for the rest of their campaign and admitted that the match was very close.
Harry Brook praised Nepal’s efforts
England’s star-studded bowling lineup was betrayed by the batsmen of Nepal cricket team. Not just the England camp, but the entire cricket fraternity may not have been able to predict such a fight from a lower-ranked team. According to the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings, England are placed third with 259 points, while Nepal are placed 16th in the rankings with 176 points. But the scoreboard reads: England 184/7 (20) and Nepal 180/6 (20).
For Nepal, Kushal Bhurtel, Rohit Paudel, Deependra Singh Airy and of course Lokesh Bam produced dominant performances with the bat, taking their team close to the target score. England’s 37-year-old experienced spinner Adil Rashid became the team’s most expensive bowler with an economy rate of 14.00 after bowling 3 overs. Star pacer Jofra Archer scored runs at an economy rate of 10.50 in his 4 over spell. Another fast bowler Luke Wood also had an economy rate of more than 10.
Brook considered himself lucky to win the match against Nepal
After the match, England captain Harry Brook said that this match was very difficult for him. There are not many players who can compete with Adil Rashid. Brooke said they were very lucky to get home safely.
“It wasn’t easy at all, but thankfully we got over the line. He played very well, and I’ve just heard you say that not many teams would have been able to get Adil Rashid out the way he did. And I thought he did excellent against him. And he put us in a difficult position on a few occasions there too,” Brook said.
The English captain was quite confident before the start of the second innings.
He also admitted that he and his team would have easily defeated their opponent, especially during the break. He praised the Nepal national cricket team for displaying a high level of cricket against them.
“Obviously, I thought we were in a very good position to be able to defend it (considering during the break). And I absolutely didn’t think it would get that close, but hats off to the Nepali team. They played very well, and I wish them all the best for the rest of the competition,” he told during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Read More: Keep your head high: Netizens are in awe of Nepal as they deal a powerful blow to England in the T20 World Cup.
