Nepal fell inches short of their historic first-ever win over South Africa as they failed to score eight runs in the last over of the 31st match of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, St. Vincent.
Chasing 116 to win, Nepal had Sompal Kami and Gulshan Jha in the middle whereas South Africa put the onus of bowling the last over on the shoulders of Ottneil Baartman.
Baartman, 31, utilised all his experience of playing in the domestic circuit and bowled a length ball, angling across the left-handed Gulshan Jha to start the over with a dot ball.
The right-arm speedster mixed his length and delivered a wide yorker, just inside the tram line to bowl the second-consecutive dot ball of the final over.
Watch the final over of Nepal vs South Africa ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 clash:
Baartman tried to excel the wide yorker again but turned out to be too predictable as Gulshan sensed the ploy and shuffled towards his off-stump to carve it over extra cover for a boundary.
The southpaw followed it up with another cracking hit towards deep cover and scampered for a couple to reduce the margin.
Baartman came back strongly to bowl a dot on the penultimate ball and Nepal needed just two runs off the final delivery.
The South African seamer bowled a short-pitched ball outside of off and managed to beat Gulshan again. Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock had already taken the wicket-keeping glove off his throwing hand and took a shy at the stumps on the non-striker's end in an attempt to run Gulshan out.
The throw ricocheted off Gulshan's back and went straight to Heinrich Klaasen who whipped the bails off in a flash and Gulshan fell inches short of his crease.
The outcome brought despair to the Nepal cricket fans as many of them who had gathered at the venue looked distraught after the heart-breaking loss.
