The Nepalese may be the Nearly Men of world cricket. At the 2024 World Cup, they came close to beating South Africa and fell short by just one run. This evening (February 8) at the Wankhede in Mumbai, they fell short by one shot, against England. One more six and it would have sent ripples across world cricket and caused an upset of Himalayan scale - both metaphorical and literal.

Ten runs off the last over and a six off the final ball may sound a daunting ask for a side ranked No. 16 in the world, and when up against two-time champions - the No. 3-ranked team in T20Is. But the result was within their striking distance, eminently. All through the game, Nepal punched above their weight and England were found wrestling for control.

Only a couple of overs earlier, they had pounded ace pace Jofra Archer for 22 runs. One of the most fearsome fast bowlers in the world, Archer was smashed for three sixes - the joint-worstT20Iover of his career which yielded 22 runs. The next over was hit for 14 more, this time off Luke Wood.

Ten runs with that momentum should have been a regulation finish for Nepal, but Sam Curran did not err in yorkers and Lokesh Bham, who had thrown caution to the wind with a devil-may-care approach, failed to clear the fence one last time. It was he who had treated Archer with gay abandon a couple of overs earlier. England won by four runs - a game they were lucky not to have lost.

The feeling is one of pride and regret, said Nandan Yadav, one of Nepal's impressive bowlers. "I think I feel both. Sometimes there is regret and sometimes pride as well, because we are competing against such a good team like England and we came really close to winning the game. So I think it's 50-50 for us - pride, and obviously regret as well, because we were really close."

Historically, England have lost to Netherlands and Ireland in the brief history of T20 World Cups but the two-time champions, under Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum have avoided defeat in what could have been a banana peel fixture for them. They made the right bowling changes, did not panic, and planned collectively, with former captain Jos Buttler actively offering his inputs to captain Brook and the bowlers.

"Right now, it's a sense of relief and happiness," Will Jacks, the Player of the Match, said after what can easily be termed a jailbreak for England. "We came into this game simply trying to win, and that's what we've done. So, in that sense, it's job done. In another sense, it's brilliant - continuing that preparation going forward for more games to come, because we know we're going to be in similar situations."

The T20 World Cup, over the years, has witnessed many upsets - the USA beating Pakistan in the last edition, Scotland shocking the West Indies in 2022, and the Netherlands causing quite a few tremors, with wins over England, as earlier mentioned, and South Africa. But this result would have been the mother of all upsets had Nepal pulled it off.

Nepal matched England shot for shot and ball for ball, and came close to restricting the opposition to a reasonable total but for the last over, which went for 20 runs with Jacks unleashing himself. Chasing 185, they were always in the hunt till the very last ball, with skipper Dipendra Singh Airee (44), Rohit Paudel (39), Bam (39) and Kushal Bhurtel (29) keeping the run rate under control on a pitch that had tested even the Indian batters the night before.

Nepal is clearly a nation rising in world cricket. Currently an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has ambitions to become a Full Member of the ICC within the next five years - by 2030. With the desire of playing Test cricket, CAN have also launched a three-day domestic tournament and have asked the ICC to give it First-Class status.

However, Nandan admitted that their domestic red-ball status has to improve. "We need to improve our domestic circuit, red-ball cricket and everything which we don't have right now. So it's a dream for me as well to become a Test Nation. But yeah, it's tough job to [do] now, I think," Nandan said.

Apart from running South Africa close, they famously beat West Indies in a bilateral series in Sharjah last year. Airee, who batted splendidly on Sunday, holds the record for the fastest T20I fifty, having reached the half-century in the minimum possible deliveries - nine - against Mongolia in 2023. Besides, they also have one of the most passionate set of fans of world cricket.

The 17,000-strong crowd at the Wankhede backed the underdogs and, at one stage, even English fans were seen cheering for the Himalayan nation. "That's the love of our crowd. They always support us. Wherever we go, it feels like a home ground for us. I'm really thankful for that - to all the supporters," said Nandan of fans who are dominating the media and social media space with their posts and memes.

The match, obviously, was an eye-opener for Nepal, who may have realised their real potential. And Nandan said they have not given up hope of a Super 8 berth despite the Sunday reversal. "We've only played our first game so far and it was very close, so we are not really behind in the Super 8 race. I think we still have a good chance of making the Super 8."

Nepal have three more games, against Italy on February 12, against West Indies on February 15 and against Scotland on February 17 (all at the Wankhede). Seems like they have discovered a new home in Mumbai and that could work to their advantage.