While there was little swagger from England after their narrow victory over Nepal on Sunday in the T20 World Cup opener at Wankhede, the points were secured and momentum maintained.
They have now won 11 of their 12 completed T20s over the past year and their most recent outings have underlined the value of grinding out results when not at their best.
“I wouldn’t have wanted it to be as close as it was to be honest,” Jacob Bethell said. “But this is my first World Cup. Watching previous World Cups you want to get those little tricky games, to get a feel for them and just know you’ve got the confidence to get over the line in them. It’s not going to do us any harm to go through that.”
It was an unconvincing performance on the surface, with several of England’s most dependable figures, including Adil Rashid and Jofra Archer, unable to impose themselves. Yet there was reassurance in the way others stepped forward when required. While England remain some distance from discussing tournament success, they are aware that edging tight contests can be the hallmark of champions.
Such moments are common in title-winning campaigns. India in 2024 appeared set for defeat against Pakistan before Jasprit Bumrah delivered a decisive penultimate over. England themselves faced a must-win situation in 2022 after losing to Ireland and scraped past Sri Lanka in their final group match. Australia in 2021 also needed last-over composure in a low-scoring opener against South Africa.
In the lead-up to this tournament, England frequently referenced a recent defence of 128 in Pallekele rather than more emphatic victories. It was their latest outing and also a reminder of the belief required in tight situations, as Sri Lanka collapsed from a strong position. Bethell described it as “a nice tight finish”, highlighting how such results can be more instructive than comfortable wins.
“That game was awesome,” said Harry Brook before the start of tournament. “One thing we said after that was that the belief was there for every single one of them.
“We were well behind the game at one point. We were at drinks and we all just went: ‘Look lads, anything can happen here. We get a couple of wickets and it all changes.’ We all had that belief to go out there and win that game.”
That confidence was tested again against Nepal. Five days later and 2,000 kilometres away, England were in another tense scenario, regrouping at a drinks break and reminding themselves of the volatility of T20 cricket.
“We just spoke about how there’s a long time left to go in the game. Six overs,” Will Jacks said.
“Everything happens quickly in T20 cricket. Six overs is still a very long time. After that we bowled two very good overs and all of a sudden we were ahead. That’s how quickly the game can change.
“Harry was very good there at keeping level-headed. Jos [Buttler] spoke as well. Those experienced guys are crucial when those pressure situations come around.”
The drinks interval came after 14 overs of Nepal’s chase, by which point England’s total of 184 no longer looked secure. Nepal had just taken 19 from Rashid’s final over. England responded with a brief surge of control before the match again tightened, leaving Sam Curran to defend 10 in the last over.
“That last game in Sri Lanka gave us confidence,” Bethell said. “And when you’ve got match-winners in the team like Sam – he’s a match-winner, it doesn’t matter what he’s done previously in the game or games prior, if you need him to come and win you a game, he’s there for you.”
For Liam Dawson, making a long-awaited World Cup appearance at 35 after years as a squad member or travelling reserve, it was already a memorable occasion.
“We’d tried to play a good game but fair play to Nepal, they had us on the ropes,” he said. “It was far from a perfect performance, but you come to a World Cup and you just want to win. Sometimes you win ugly – you don’t play your best, but you just win.”
For England, the match was not a statement performance but it may prove valuable.
“I think winning ugly is a great trait. It’s incredibly difficult to replicate that experience that you get,” Jacks said. “A game like that, where we potentially weren’t expecting it to go down to the last ball and it has – hopefully when we get in that situation in the rest of the tournament, which we definitely will at some stage, we’ll be able to look back on this experience and take that with us.”