Nepal achieved the target of 171 runs with 4 balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai after Dipendra scored above 50 runs for the second consecutive match.
What you should know
Nepal defeated Scotland by 7 wickets in the Twenty20 World Cup on Tuesday thanks to a half-century from Dipendra Singh Airi. Nepal achieved the target of 171 runs with 4 balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai after Dipendra scored 50+ runs for the second consecutive match.
Nepal has won its first World Cup match in 12 years. It is also the third win in the World Cup for Nepal, which is playing its third World Cup.
Nepal has not won a single match in the World Cup since defeating Afghanistan in Chittagong, Bangladesh in 2014. It had lost six matches in a row and one match was abandoned due to rain.
Nepal had also been defeated by England, Italy and the West Indies in this World Cup. Nepal had already been eliminated from the second round after losing these three matches.
Photos: Angad Dhakal, Hemant Shrestha/Kantipur
Dipendra scored a half-century of 50 runs in 23 balls. In the innings, he hit 4 fours and 3 sixes. Dipendra and Gulshan Jha shared a partnership of 73 runs in 36 balls for the fourth wicket. Gulshan scored 24 runs in 17 balls, including 1 four and 2 sixes.
Opening duo Kushal Bhurtel and Asif Sheikh had given an aggressive start and laid the foundation for Nepal's victory. Nepal, who had scored 74 runs in 9 overs without loss in the powerplay, scored 56 runs. Kushal was caught by Michael Lisk in the first ball of the 10th over. Kushal hit 1 four and 5 sixes in 35 balls.
Lisk also dismissed another Nepali opener, Asif, in the 12th over. Asif scored 33 runs in 27 balls and hit 2 sixes. Nepal was under pressure after Lisk also dismissed captain Rohit Poudel. Rohit scored 16 runs in 14 balls, including 1 four.
Lisk had conceded only 10 runs in his first 3 overs. But in his fourth and Nepal's 16th over, he conceded 20 runs. Out of those 19 runs, Dipendra hit Lisk for 2 sixes and 1 four.
Earlier, Scotland, who were invited to bat after losing the toss for 71 runs by opener Michael Jones, scored 170 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Scotland, who scored 52 runs without loss in the powerplay, had made a great start by adding 80 runs in the first 10 overs.
In the last ball of the 10th over, captain Rohit Poudel dismissed George Munshi to break the partnership. Munshi scored 27 runs in 29 balls and hit 4 fours. Brandon McMullan was given life for 15 runs when Sandeep Jora managed to drop his catch off Nandan Yadav.
Jones shared a 52-run partnership with McMullan in 32 balls for the second wicket. Sompal Kami tried to get Nepal back in the game by dismissing both of them in the 16th over. Sompal bowled Jones and cut and bowled McMullan.
Jones hit 8 fours and 3 sixes in 45 balls. McMullan scored 25 runs off 19 balls, hitting 1 four and 1 six. In the next over, Kushal Bhurtel dismissed Richie Barrington for 10 runs. Nandan bowled Matthew Cross for 4 runs and dismissed Michael Leask for 4 runs.
Sompal took his third wicket by dismissing Tom Bruce for 5 runs. Sompal took 3 wickets for just 25 runs in 4 overs. Nandan took 2 wickets for 34 runs in 2 overs, while Rohit and Kushal took 1 wicket each.
