[Watch] Nepal fan jumps into pool to celebrate wicket in BAN vs NEP 2024 T20 World Cup clash
As Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel dismissed the dangerous Towhid Hridoy for only 9 in the Bangladesh-Nepal 2024 T20 World Cup clash on June 16, the cameras shifted elsewhere to a rather unique fan celebration. One of the Nepal fans could not control his excitement at the wicket and jumped into the pool at the stadium.
After striking a boundary off a sweep in the previous delivery, Hridoy attempted a similar shot again only to top-edge it for Sandeep Lamichhane to complete the catch at short fine leg.
Here is a video of the dismissal followed by the hilarious celebration:
Hridoy has been in fine form through the tournament thus far and his dismissal reduced Bangladesh to 30/4 in this crucial encounter.
Despite a reasonable recovery, the Tigers finished with only 106 on the board in 19.3 overs. With a win sufficient to ensure Super Eight qualification, the Bangladesh bowlers came out on fire and bowled out Nepal for 85.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib finished with incredible figures of 4/7 in four overs, while Mustafizur Rahman completed a miserly spell of 3/7 in four overs.
Bangladesh became the final team to qualify for the Super Eights, while Nepal finished the tournament winless in four outings.
"We have disappointed our fans" - Nepal captain Rohit Paudel
Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel felt his side had disappointed their fans with a winless campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup despite boasting tremendous potential.
While the Nepal bowlers delivered repeatedly, their batters could never step up to the plate, failing to cross 120 even once.
After the Bangladesh clash, Rohit said at the post-match presentation:
"We're up to the mark with our bowling and fielding. This team has great potential, we need to back each and every player, I feel we will do very well in the next World Cup. We have disappointed our fans, we could have won few matches, feel for them. We will try to make them happy in the coming years."
Nepal's most heartbreaking defeat came in their previous outing against South Africa by one run. It was only their second time at the T20 World Cup and first since the 2014 edition.
They have yet to qualify for the main event at the 50-over World Cup.