Brook, Jacks, Bethell power England to 185 against Nepal

England would be really happy with how they finished with the bat in their ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign opener. Nepal opted to go in with Karan KC for the ultimate over and 21 came off it. This after Nepal fought back admirably through their troika of spinners in Sandeep Lamichhane, Kushal Bhurtel and Dipendra Singh Airee.

The phase from 14-17 overs produced just 19 runs but in the last three overs England got 45. That gives them the momentum going into the second half. Some balls were holding into the pitch and there was appreciable turn for Lamichhane. Adil Rashid would love that information.

Two good knocks from Bethell and Brook set England up earlier on. The left-hander was helped by some poor bowling from Sher Malla and Brook showed his great hand-eye coordination with a couple of sixes. The finish came from Jacks who struggled initially for timing and rhythm. This definitely looks a better pitch than the one used last night in the India versus USA game.

Jacob Bethell, who top-scored with 55 for England, reckons they have enough.

“The off-pace deliveries were pretty hard [to hit],” he says. “With the tacky nature of the wicket, we’ll probably look to use a bit more off-pace for our seamers, but [against] the spinners is where it definitely was a bit tougher, especially in that middle period where we were trying to get on with it, it looked hard to come in and start [your innings].

“For the seamers, it’ll definitely be use your change of pace, get the ball into the wicket and let the wicket do the work for you. For the spinners, my advice would be keep the stumps in play and let the pitch do the work.”