Stuart Law’s men raised the bar when they stole three wins in four games during the CWC League 2 tri-series against the Netherlands and hosts Scotland in Forthill, Dundee. Their only loss in the series, which concluded last week, was against the hosts by a meagre two runs.

Around 90 miles away, in Titwood, Glasgow, the Rhinos, true to their epithet ‘Cardiac Kids’, have kept their fans—those on the ground and those watching live—on the edge of their seats in the first two matches of the friendly T20I tri-series between the same trio.

“I am sure that people sitting at home, watching the TV, they don’t want to watch, you know, have heart attacks watching the game of cricket,” Law told the Post after Nepal’s laboured win over Scotland on Tuesday. Chasing a below-average target of 98 runs, Nepal took the match up until the penultimate ball of their innings.

If it was not for Michael Leask, who came in at six, Scotland would have been bundled out for far less. Leask, who fell as the last wicket, scored 46 off 46 as the Scots got all out for 97 runs in 19.4 overs. Skipper Matthew Cross (15 off 22) and Brandon McMullen (10 off 12) were the only other batters to score in double figures for the hosts.

Sandeep Lamichhane bagged four wickets conceding only 11 runs in four overs, while Karan KC and Dipendra Singh Airee picked two each. Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi also claimed one.

Batting did not seem easy on Tuesday. Scotland smashed only six fours and two sixes in their inning while Nepal responded with seven fours and zero maximums.

Opener Kushal Bhurtel played a crucial innings, scoring 30 runs off 35 balls with four boundaries, while his opening partner, Lokesh Bam, was dismissed after two consecutive fours.

Nepal needed in-at-seven Kiran Thagunna, who debuted in T20Is against the Dutch on Tuesday, to score the only other boundary of the inning. However, when Thagunna departed as the eighth wicket, Nepal required just one run from two balls; once again, Nepali fans were biting their nails.

“Well, it seems to be, yeah,” Law said when asked if Nepal’s game was troublesome to watch for those with weak hearts.

Lamichhane came as the 10th batter, took a quick single with KC in the first delivery he faced, and guided Nepal to the win in the first T20I against Scotland.

Nepal defeated Scotland by eight wickets during the T20 World Cup Qualifiers in 2013 and later entered their maiden World Cup in 2014. Yet, Nepal did not have a T20I status then.

The last over drama was hard to watch for Nepali fans, as only a day ago Nepal lost to the Netherlands in what was T20I cricket’s first three Super Overs in a game. That match against the Dutch also marked Nepal’s 100th T20I since their debut in 2014, though it ended in disappointment.

However, the victory over Scotland in Nepal’s 101st T20I brought joy, highlighted by Karan KC’s milestone as he became only the second Nepali bowler to take 100 wickets in T20 Internationals.

KC, who debuted in the shortest format against the Netherlands in June 2015, played his 80th match on Tuesday. He took the wicket of opener George Munsey to reach the ton and of Finlay McCreath to make it 101.

KC, the oldest player in Nepal’s squad, said he was extremely happy to enter the 100-wicket club, where Lamichhane (115 wickets in 59 games) had been waiting alone.

“Now it is time to target 200 (wickets),” KC told the Post after the win over Scotland, suggesting he was hungry for more.

Dreaming higher

While Nepal have not been at their best in the first two matches of the T20I tri-series, head coach Law believes that better days are underway.

Recalling the three Super Overs with the Dutch side, Law said that repeating such scenarios was not affordable. “We won’t have the luck all the time with us,” he said. “If we want to play at a higher level…play in the World Cup, etc., we need to make sure that we are addressing these situations and getting better each time.”

Law also informed that he had clarified to the players that if they perform, they will get rewarded. “Cricket is a performance-based game. And the boys have been outstanding,” he said.

He also stressed that the weather in the UK crippled his training plans. “We haven’t been able to do the training we wanted to do either,” Law added. “Overall, the boys have got their work done.”

Likewise, Law accepted that his dressing room was different from Monty Desai’s ‘happy dressing room’. “Yes, my dressing room is a calm one,” he said.

“I have been involved in very successful cricket teams over the last 40 years,” he added. “And the one thing that rings true is if you remain calm, you will make better decisions when you are under pressure.”

The 1996 Cricket World Cup runner-up with Australia as a player, Law also argued that he did not like regular meetings just for getting together. “I don’t like meetings,” he said. “The meetings I have are for specific reasons. We do a lot of meetings in practice. It allows players to go and do something right away.”

During his first press conference as Nepal’s head coach in April, Law said that he wanted to focus more on qualifying for the T20 World Cup. The UK tour has been beneficial, Law said, but the upcoming three-match T20I series with the West Indies, in September in the neutral venue of Sharjah, would be more important.

West Indies are two-time world champions in the format, Law noted. “Big strong boys,” he added. “I have coached them [in 2018-19]…I look forward to seeing the boys who are there.”

Nepal will reach Oman in October alongside seven other nations for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia-Pacific Regional Final. The top three teams will enter the 2026 T20 World Cup being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.