A father in Punjab watches with heartbreak as Nepal makes waves at the T20 Cricket World Cup.

A peon at Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. in Patiala, Ram Bahadur Thapa got Saturday off and woke up at 4 am to watch South Africa vs. Nepal in the men's T20 cricket World Cup Group D match.

His son, Sompal Kami, 28, was batting for Nepal in a crucial game as the nation made its T20 World Cup comeback after a ten-year hiatus, and he wanted to support him.

It came down to a close game at Kingstown, the capital of the island nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the eastern Caribbean.

As Sompal, one of the quickest bowlers in the world, hit a ball out of the ground over midwicket in the 19th over, Nepal, behind 116, came dangerously close to achieving a historic victory.With one ball remaining, Nepal needed to win by two runs and force a Super Over by one.

However, the wicketkeeper's throw bounced off the striker's torso and hit a fielder at short mid-on, forcing Ghulsan Jha, who was trying to get a single, to be run out. Jha also stammered following the blow.

In the 2024 T20 World Cup, Nepal was defeated by South Africa by the narrowest of margins, A heartbroken Kami fell to his knees; his father was destroyed back in Patiala.

A devastated Ram Bahadur observed, "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)."