March of the underdogs: How associate nations are adding flair to World Cup

On the field, it came down to a last-ball shoot out. In our minds, it came down to the oldest rivalry in storytelling.

On Sunday, England were defending 184 against Nepal in their opening T20 World Cup match. The Himalayan Kingdom needed six off the last ball. Sam Curran had the ball. Lokesh Bam had the bat. Karan KC was at the other hand.

Sam vs Bam. David vs Goliath. Wham Bam, Good night Sam? The Wankhede crowd held its breath, and a question.

In 2024, David had defied expectations. Nepal had lost to South Africa by just one run. Will the underdog win today?

The signs till the last over were promising. Jofra Archer, Luke Wood and Adil Rashid had been beaten out of shape by Nepal's batters. Just 10 were needed. But Curran's low yorkers held their shape.

When the final delivery thudded into the fielder's hands at deep cover, the entire Wankhede could hear England exhale. England escaped by four runs, the scoreboard said defeat. But the stadium, the analysts, and the cricketing world knew better.

Something had shifted.

That over, those six balls, was the moment the T20 World Cup stopped being a tournament about favourites and became a story about disruption.

THE DISRUPTION

The first week of the T20 World Cup has shattered one of cricket's oldest assumptions: that there are minnows in international cricket. As Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus declared, it is high time the tags Associate and minnows were removed.

In a tournament featuring 10 Associate nations, teams like Nepal, USA, and Netherlands have delivered performances that blur the line between established powers and emerging forces. All of them came within striking distance against England, India and Pakistan, losing only because of dropped catches, or defeat-defying brilliance of Curran and Suryakumar Yadav.

ROM YAWN TO YARN

When the tournament draw was announced, featuring 10 Associate nations, the collective response was a polite shrug. Group stages were supposed to be formalities, glorified net sessions for the big nations to tune up before the real tournament began.

Analysts pencilled in predictable wins. Broadcasters scheduled their prime commentary teams for later rounds. Fans marked their calendars for the Super 8s, not the openers.

Thank god they were all wrong.

These so-called minnows have belied every fear of a dull start. Nepal vs England wasn't a warm-up, it was edge-of-seat theatre that had the Wankhede roaring like a knockout final.

USA making India work for their victory wasn't a 300-run fest for Suryakumar Yadav and his batters. It was genuine competition, trial by fire. Netherlands challenging Pakistan turned what should have been a routine win into a doomsday scenario of elimination for fans in Karachi.

The first few matches haven't just woken up the tournament; they've electrified it. The group stage has become must-watch cricket precisely because nothing is guaranteed.

This tournament is reminding us why global competitions exist, and what happens when passion meets preparation, when underdogs get their moment, when the script gets thrown out and sport becomes genuinely surprising again.

WHY FORMAT MATTERS

T20 is cricket's great democratiser. Twenty overs provide just enough time for individual brilliance to override systemic advantages. One explosive batter can score 70 off 35 balls and change the entire complexion of a chase. One inspired bowling spell can strangle even the deepest batting lineup.

Traditional cricket formats allow class to eventually prevail. In Tests, depth of talent shows over five days. In ODIs, 50 overs smooth out variance. But T20 is pure volatility. Four bad overs, even when Archer is bowling them, can cost 60 runs, three dropped catches can swing the result, one batter's purple patch can overcome decades of infrastructure advantage.

Franchise leagues have accelerated this democratisation. Players from Associate nations now regularly compete in the IPL, CPL, Big Bash, and other tournaments, facing elite bowlers and batters in high-pressure situations. These experiences translate directly to World Cups, closing the gap that once separated Associates from full members. When Nepal's batters hammered Archer, they weren't overawed, they'd seen pace like his in franchise cricket.

THE FOOTBALL WORLD CUP PARALLEL

Cricket is learning what football has long known: global tournaments breed upsets. Saudi Arabia stunning Argentina in 2022, South Korea eliminating Germany in 2018, Costa Rica's dream run in 2014, and Cameroon's Roger Milla magic in 1990 are parts of the sports lore

In football, these results happen because tournament pressure and one-off knockout formats reward preparation, passion, and perfect timing over consistent superiority.

But T20 cricket might actually be more upset-prone than football. In football, a single goal is massive; teams can fall back and defend a 1-0 lead. In T20, teams score 150–180 runs, creating multiple inflection points. One batter's 70 can win a match, a brilliant over can turn the tide. The shorter format amplifies both brilliance and mistakes, making every match genuinely unpredictable.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

The 2026 World Cup is expanding cricket's reach with performances that demand attention. The teams are delivering performances that threaten to reshape knockout stages and challenge fundamental assumptions about cricket's hierarchy.

The question is no longer whether Associate nations can compete with full members in T20 cricket. Nepal, USA and the Netherlands have answered that definitively. The question now is: who will be the first Associate nation to actually win one of these tournaments?

Based on Nepal's fearless batting, USA's growing infrastructure, and Netherlands' consistent excellence, that day may arrive sooner than cricket's establishment expects. When it does, we'll look back at Sam defending those final six balls against Bam as the moment the dam began to crack.

And Davids became the new Goliaths.

T20 World Cup | T20 World Cup Schedule | T20 World Cup Points Table | T20 World Cup Videos | Cricket News | Live Score