Nepal rode on Kushal Bhurtel’s early fireworks and Dipendra Singh Airee’s unbeaten 50 off 23 balls to end its 12-year winless run in the T20 World Cup with a seven-wicket triumph over Scotland in an inconsequential Group C clash.
“This means a lot to me. It’s my second World Cup as captain, and winning our first game in the last league-stage match was very important for us as a team. Dipendra led the way,” Paudel said at the post-match presentation.
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Nepal had suffered a narrow four-run defeat to heavyweight England in its tournament opener before losing momentum in subsequent matches, only to regain its footing on Tuesday.
Paudel thanked the passionate Nepalese fans for backing the team during difficult times.
“After our game against England, they started booking tickets and supported us until the last match. To slow them down and restrict them to 170, our death bowling was excellent. We focused more on dot balls than on taking wickets.”
The Nepal skipper also praised Airee and Gulshan Jha (24 not out off 14 balls) for their breathtaking, match-winning partnership.
“This is not the way we wanted to play, but Dipendra and Gulshan won the game for us. Dipendra deserves the Player of the Match award — he has great talent. We kept our nerves calm, both bowlers and batters.
“We learned a lot from the England game. To summarise this tournament, we wanted to play the way we did against England and Scotland. The game against Italy was not how we wanted to perform. We will try to improve from here,” Paudel said.
Airee, who was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 23-ball 50 that secured Nepal’s first T20 World Cup win in 12 years, described it as the best innings of his career.
Airee also added that the defeat to England had been a major learning experience.
“The last game against England gave us a few important lessons. So I think this win is very important for us.”
Scotland skipper Richie Berrington credited Airee for turning the game in Nepal’s favour.
“The atmosphere was incredible. We always knew it would be a tough game against Nepal with the crowd behind them. Full credit to Airee — he changed the momentum of the game.
Berrington added that Scotland had proved it belongs on the T20 World Cup stage after being named as a last-minute replacement for Bangladesh national cricket team.
Published on Feb 17, 2026
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