Sam Curran revealed his mind drifted back to Ben Stokes and the 2016 T20 World Cup final before his last-over heroics rescued England from humiliation in Mumbai on Sunday.
Following the Ashes debacle and Harry Brook’s off-field drama, England’s miserable winter threatened to take another downturn as minnows Nepal required just 10 off the last six balls to claim a shock win.
But Curran, thinking about Stokes being thumped for four successive sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in the final over as the West Indies snatched a famous victory a decade ago, held his nerve by nailing his lines and lengths.
Roared on by thousands of Nepalese fans at a raucous Wankhede Stadium, Lokesh Bam had to hit a six off the last ball after being frustrated by Curran but could only hit a single as England won by four runs.
Curran said at the presentation ceremony: “I said to Brook ‘I’m backing six yorkers here and I’ll take the hit if I don’t execute’. I think you’ve got to think like that.
“I weirdly thought of the 2016 final when Carlos got a hold of Stokesy and I was thinking ‘if I execute, he’s not going to hit me for six’.
“(At the) top of my mark I just watched his feet and thankfully I executed. Those games are great to win but wow, it would have been a horrible one to lose.
“It just shows how competitive this World Cup’s going to be. We knew it was going to be full of Nepal fans. I played a lot of cricket in India and I’ve never had an atmosphere quite like that.”
England starting their tournament with a win – their 11th in 12 completed T20s – was built on a total of 184 for seven, underpinned by fifties for Brook and Jacob Bethell, plus Will Jacks’ cameo 39 off 18 balls.
But the ultra-reliable Adil Rashid failed to take a wicket for the first time in 25 T20s and was uncharacteristically expensive with figures of 3-0-42-0, while Jofra Archer’s final over disappeared for 22.
Liam Dawson, playing his first World Cup match, impressed with two for 21 before Curran had the final say in a back-and-forth contest, leaving Bam on his haunches after making 39 not out off 20 balls.
Jacks, who also took one for 17, said: “Winning ugly is a great trait. It’s incredibly difficult to replicate that experience.
“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.
“I was very nervous, my heart was thumping on the boundary. But I had confidence in Sam, he’s done that job quite well. Credit to him, it was brilliant how he nailed his yorkers and held his nerve.”
England began their campaign 16 years ago with a shock loss to the Netherlands but captain Brook and head coach Brendon McCullum have avoided that ignominy, with both of their jobs under scrutiny.
McCullum has been criticised for how England planned and prepared for the 4-1 Ashes defeat but he was shown relaying instructions on to the field during Nepal’s chase on a walkie talkie – a practice that Jacks said started earlier this winter.
Jacks added: “It’s so messages can get run out to the captain or to the guys who are batting in the middle. It’s just an easier way of spreading the message.”
