South Africa beat Nepal by one run in their final group D match.
South Africa survived a major scare from Nepal in scrambling a nerve-jangling one-run victory in their final Group D match of the T20 World Cup at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St Vincent on Friday.
Needing eight runs off the final over in pursuit of a modest target of 116 for a stunning upset win, the Nepalese fell agonisingly short at 114 for seven with Gulshan Jha run out off the final ball as he attempted a single off Ottneil Baartman to force a super over.
« Very grateful to have got the win, we were not near our best tonight », relieved South Africa captain Aiden Markram said afterwards.
« Reflecting back on the game over the next few days, there will be a lot of learnings for us.
« First and foremost, the way Nepal bowled it made it really tough for us. They put us under a lot of pressure. »
After leg-break bowler Kushal Bhurtel (4 for 19) and off-spinner Dipendra Singh Airee (3 for 21) limited the Proteas to 115 for seven batting first, Aasif Sheikh (42) and Anil Sah (27) featured in a 50-run third-wicket partnership which pulled the Nepalese within touching distance of a result which would have kept their hopes alive of getting to the Super Eight phase of the tournament.
