Scotland’s captain Richie Berrington credited Nepal’s batter Dipendra Singh Airee and the team’s bowling unit after Nepal scripted history and clinched their first-ever T20 World Cup win by defeating Scotland in the 2026 edition at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. Berrington also praised the Associate teams who have achieved success at the world championship during the current 20-team competition.
Nepal achieved victory over Scotland by seven wickets after chasing down 171 runs which Scotland scored in their first innings through Dipendra’s 23-ball 50 who completed the match in 19.2 overs.
Berrington spoke about Nepal’s bowlers who made it hard for Scotland to score during the last parts of their batting innings which resulted in Scotland achieving what they thought was an appropriate total that fell short of their standard. He said they were confident after their strong bowling display against England, but credited Dipendra Singh Airee for a match-changing innings that shifted the momentum and ultimately made the difference.
Nepal deserves most of the credit for their effective bowling performance during the final stages of our batting performance. The last few overs of the match became extremely challenging for us to hit boundaries. I think when we came off, we thought 170 was a competitive score, but we know we probably left a few runs out there. After we saw our bowling performance against England, we understood that our team had a strong chance to win the game if we maintained that level of performance.
The performance of Dipendra today deserves him a significant amount of credit. The player delivered an outstanding performance. The player shifted complete control of the match after showing this ability multiple times before. Scotland captain stated that the players performance today should receive significant recognition according to him.
Berrington praised the World Cup format which permits 20 teams to compete because it proves Associate nations can perform well in international tournaments. He explained that competitive matches against top opponents are vital for development while Scotland demonstrated their ability to match that standard of competition.
The 20-team World Cup tournament is excellent according to me. The associates performance at the world stage has not surprised me because they keep showing their abilities. Our team needs more opportunities to face stronger opponents according to our needs. The team will improve through our additional matches against stronger opponents. I feel satisfied because our team demonstrated that we can compete at that level again. The team will benefit from additional contact with that content according to him.
Scotland began their batting during the match on a successful path. The team achieved a score of 52 without losing any wickets during the powerplay. Nepal captain Rohit Paudel ended the 80-run partnership between Michael Jones and George Munsey when he dismissed Munsey after the batsman scored 27 runs off 29 deliveries which included four boundaries during the last delivery of the 10th over.
Scotland maintained their batting pace as they scored 131 runs during the first 15 overs of their innings. Michael Jones maintained the Scottish batting attack through his exceptional performance which produced 71 runs from 45 deliveries including eight fours and three sixes.
The match turned against Scotland when Sompal Kami who had previous international experience achieved his two wickets during the 16th over which enabled Nepal to stage a comeback into the match. Kami dismissed Jones with his bowling before he caught a return catch to take out Brandon McMullen (25) which resulted in Scotland losing their third wicket at 133 runs. Scotland achieved 39 runs during their final five overs which enabled them to reach 170 runs with seven wickets lost. Kami finished his four-over spell with 3 wickets and 25 runs for Nepal.
Nepal’s openers showed exceptional performance when they began their 171-run chase. The opening pair of Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh scored 56 runs during their first six overs to help their team begin their run chase.
Michael Leask ended the opening partnership between Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh after he started to lead Scotland back into the match. The opening duo added 74 runs off 9.1 overs before Leask managed to induce a miscued shot off Bhurtel (43).
Dipendra Singh Airee (50 runs from 24 balls which included four boundaries and three fours) and Gulsan Jha (24 runs from 17 balls with one four and two sixes) built a match-winning partnership of 73 runs to bring Nepal victory in 19.2 overs.
