Nepal captain Rohit Paudel said the dramatic win over Scotland in their final Group C clash of the T20 World Cup was a deeply emotional moment, as it ended the Himalayan nation’s 12-year wait for a victory in the tournament.
Nepal sealed a seven-wicket win over Scotland, riding on an explosive start from Kushal Bhurtel and a sensational unbeaten 50 off just 23 balls from Dipendra Singh Airee. The result, though inconsequential in terms of qualification, marked Nepal’s first T20 World Cup victory in over a decade.
“This means a lot to me. It’s my second World Cup as captain, and winning our first game in the last league match was very important for us as a team. Dipendra led the way,” Paudel said at the post-match presentation.
Nepal had narrowly lost to England by four runs in their opening match and struggled to maintain momentum before bouncing back in their final outing.
Paudel also thanked the passionate Nepalese supporters who stood by the team throughout the campaign. “After our game against England, they started booking tickets and supported us until the last match. To restrict Scotland to 170, our death bowling was excellent. We focused more on bowling dot balls than just taking wickets.”
The skipper reserved special praise for Airee and Gulshan Jha, who remained unbeaten on 24 off 14 balls, for steering Nepal home under pressure.
“This is not the way we ideally wanted to play, but Dipendra and Gulshan won the game for us. Dipendra deserves the Player of the Match award. He has immense talent. We kept our nerves calm — both bowlers and batters.”
Reflecting on the campaign, Paudel admitted there were lessons to be taken. “We learned a lot from the England game. To summarise, we wanted to play the way we did against England and Scotland. The Italy match was not how we intended to perform. We’ll look to improve from here.”
Airee, who was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 23-ball fifty, called it the best innings of his career.
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“First of all, I want to thank the fans who came from Nepal and supported us. That motivates all of us. In the last World Cup, we didn’t win a single match, so this victory is very important,” he said.
“Yes, definitely this is my best innings because of the situation. We learned a lot from previous chases, especially against England, and that experience helped us today. Such wins always boost the team.”
Scotland captain Richie Berrington acknowledged Airee’s match-winning impact.
“The atmosphere was incredible. We knew it would be tough with the crowd behind Nepal. Full credit to Airee, he shifted the momentum. 170 was competitive, and we bowled well in phases, but we probably left a few runs out there. It only takes one inning to change the game,” Berrington said.
Scotland, who entered the tournament as a late replacement for Bangladesh, showed they could compete at the highest level.
“We’ve shown we belong at this stage, though there’s some frustration because we could have won more games. Our preparation was different from other teams, but we embraced the challenge. A 20-team World Cup gives great exposure, and these teams will only grow stronger. We must seize every opportunity,” he added.
