With a bit of luck Nepal’s fairytale victory would have been secured.

The country’s hopes of progressing to the Super Eight stage of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup ended after they lost to cricketing powerhouse South Africa by one run in a nail-biting last-ball thriller in their Group D match at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, St Vincent on Saturday.

But their spirited performance earned praise worldwide after almost pulling off an upset win over one of the tournament favourites.

Fielding first after winning the toss, the Rhinos restricted a strong Proteas team to a subpar 115-7 with their stupendous spin attack as Dipendra Singh Airee and part-time bowler Kushal Bhurtel shared all seven wickets that fell between them on a turning track.

But they fell agonisingly short from recording their historic first ever victory over an ICC’s full-member nation after they could only manage 114-7.

Despite the heartbreak, Nepal’s performance caught attention worldwide.

“A performance to be proud of. Keep your heads high,” world cricket governing body International Cricket Council wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

South Africa legend Dale Steyn called the Nepal vs South Africa game the “Match of the Tournament” on ICC’s Digital Daily show.

“It would’ve been the talk of the tournament if Nepal would’ve gotten over the line. It would’ve been fantastic, and they deserved to win,” Steyn said. “[This was] the match of the tournament to be honest with you. I saw people crying in the stands, it shows how much it means to them, and that’s what cricket is all about.”

Indian cricket commentator and journalist Harsha Bhogle said Nepal have a brighter future ahead of them.

“Hold your heads high Nepal. That was South Africa you almost took down today. You have some of the most passionate fans and you let them believe. Hopefully bigger days are round the corner.”

Indian Premier League franchise cricket team Chennai Super Kings wrote on X: “Unreal fans support! Unreal game of unreal night! Nepal, you have won all our hearts!”

“Nepal's performance—all cricketing commentators, most of the IPL franchise teams, cricketing bodies are talking about the team, talking about that fan following!” a Nepal supporter based in Australia wrote on X. “Isn't it great? Didn't we win something?”

ICC and Asian Cricket Council commentator Mikkhail Vaswani wrote on his Facebook page: “Nepal are the youngest team in this World Cup. They have put on some great performances. Time to back the boys for a very strong and committed effort.”

At an average age of 23.7, Nepal are the youngest team at the World Cup. The team is led by Rohit Paudel, who, at 21, is the youngest captain in the 20-team tournament, while Gulsan Jha, 18, is the youngest player.

After the match, Paudel stressed that Nepal needed more exposure against the best teams of the world if they are to be on the right side of the result.

“We were very close but a little far,” Paudel said after the close contest. “In crunch moments, we did well, the way we fought was very good.”

He added, “If we get more exposure regularly, then next games we will be on the other side [of the result].”

Nepal were a far less experienced side as they were making their only second appearance at the world stage.

Chasing, the batters took Nepal to 85-2 in the 14th over in the chase, riding on 32 runs from their power play without losing a wicket and a half-century stand between opener Aasif Sheikh and Anil Sah that came off just 36 deliveries.

But the introduction of spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (4-19) would prove to be lethal in Nepal’s chase.

Shamsi first dismissed Bhurtel for 13 with his only second delivery in the eighth over and Paudel for a duck two balls later to hurl South Africa back in the game.

Sheikh and Sah rebuilt the Nepal innings.

Sah hit three boundaries off Anrich Nortje and a six off Shamshi to raise the tempo before Sheikh smashed Kagiso Rabada for a four and a six that took Nepal past 80 total after 13 overs with still eight wickets in hand.

After Sah fell to Aiden Markram (1-8) making 27 runs off 24 balls, Sheikh and Airee dragged Nepal to 98-3 from 17 overs.

But Shamshi returned with the ball in the 18th over and mercilessly raided the stumps of Airee and dangerman Sheikh to turn the game back into South Africa’s favour. Sheikh finished his innings with 42 runs off 49 balls.

Nepal needed 16 runs off the last 12 balls but Nortje (1-27) and Ottneil Baartman held their nerves in the final two overs to save the Proteas from the jaws of defeat.

Nortje bowled four dots in the penultimate over including a wicket of Kushal Malla that left Nepal requiring 16 runs off the last eight balls.

Sompal Kami hit Nortje with a long six and collected two runs off the last ball of the 19th over that brought the equation down to eight off the final six deliveries.

Gulsan Jha next cracked a four off Baartman in the 19.3 overs and managed another two off the next delivery to inch Nepal closer to overhauling the target.

Nepal only needed two runs off the last two deliveries to keep alive their hopes of reaching the Super Eight but Baartman threw two dots with perfect bouncers to break Nepali hearts.

Gulsan Jha tried to take the game to Super Over with a desperate attempt to add a run off a bye of the final delivery but Quinton de Kock and Heinrich Klaasen combined to run him out at the non-striker’s end.

Earlier, Bhurtel took 4-19 and Airee bowled 3-21 to trouble South Africa throughout the innings.

South Africa added 22 runs for the first wicket before Airee got the breakthrough wicket when he caught and bowled de Kock for 10 in the fourth over.

Bhurtel then bowled captain Markram for 15 in the 12th over, ending their 46-run stand for the second wicket.

South Africa seemed headed for a good total when they were at 68-2 in the 12th over but Bhurtel’s wrist spin and Airee’s off break kept their powerful opponents under control.

Bhurtel removed Klaasen for three before Airee got the big fish Hendricks, who top scored for South Africa with 43 runs off 49 balls, and removed David Miller for seven the next.

South Africa needed sixth number batter Tristan Stubbs’s 27 not out off 18 balls for a boost to their innings.

Bhurtel then underlined Nepal’s impressive bowling, claiming the wickets of Marco Jansen (1) and Rabada (0) in successive deliveries off the final two balls.

Sandeep Lamichhane also started for the first time after missing Nepal’s matches in the United States due to visa issues and bowled splendidly conceding only 18 runs in his four-over spell.

“I am very proud of the unit, especially the way we bowled and batted, I'm very proud of that,” Paudel said.

South Africa skipper Markram was also full of praise for Nepal’s bowling.

“First and foremost, the way [Nepal] bowled it made it really tough for us. They put us under a lot of pressure,” Markram said.

The defeat leaves Nepal fourth in the five-team group D with one point, which they earned after rain washed out their second group match against Sri Lanka. Nepal had lost their opening game to the Netherlands by six wickets.

South Africa, who had already progressed to the Super Eight round, finished the group stage unbeaten, collecting eight points from four matches.

Nepal next face Bangladesh on Monday and will look to end their T20 World Cup campaign on a high note.

Bangladesh are second with four points from three matches and a victory over Nepal would secure them a spot in the next round.

The Netherlands, on two points, are also in contention and next face Sri Lanka who are also without a win and lie at the bottom of the group.