Ram Bahadur Thapa, a peon at the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd in Patiala, took the day off Saturday and woke up at 4 am to watch the men’s T20 cricket World Cup Group D match between South Africa and Nepal. He wanted to cheer for his son, Sompal Kami, 28, who was batting for Nepal in an important match for the country returning to the T20 World Cup after a gap of 10 years. The match at Kingstown, the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, an island country in the eastern Caribbean, was down to the wire.
Nepal, chasing a target of 116, was within a whisker of a historic win when, in the 19th over, Sompal smashed the ball out of the ground over midwicket against Anrich Nortje , one of the world’s fastest bowlers. One ball left, Nepal needed two runs to win and one to force a Super Over. But then Ghulsan Jha, the striker, was run out while attempting a single, as the throw from the wicketkeeper deflected off his body to a fielder at short mid-on, and Jha also stuttered after the blow.
Advertisement Nepal lost to South Africa by the barest of margins at the 2024 T20 World Cup. (Image source: ICC) A disconsolate Kami sank to his knees; back in Patiala, his father was shattered. “Sompal match khatam kar deta agar strike uske pass rehta (He could have finished the match, if he had the strike in the last over),” a dejected Ram Bahadur told The Indian Express .
Kami has a Patiala connection. Thapa, whose family has roots in Gulmi, Lumbini, moved to the district in .