England's spinners impose control to see off Nepal

England 209-9 (50 overs, M.Ali 54), Nepal 132 (45.2 overs). England won by 77 runs.

England owed a debt of thanks to their spin-twins Graeme White and Nick James after the duo helped engineer a 77-run win over Group D rivals Nepal on Monday.

The left-armers imposed a vice-like grip on the Associate side's batting and in the face of that pressure Nepal wilted, bowled out for 132 in 45.2 overs.

Nepal were not helped by the loss of captain Kanishka Chaugai, who retired hurt with cramp and a sore hamstring after getting his side off to a flying start in their run chase.

But given the way White and James, and later Rory Hamilton-Brown (3-17 to polish off the tail) bowled it is questionable whether Nepal could have got the runs they needed whether or not Chaugai had stayed at the crease.

White's nine overs cost just 16 runs and brought one wicket while James delivered eight overs for 14 runs and also collected one success.

England captain Moeen Ali said the use of those spinners was all part of his side's master plan for the tournament.

"Bringing the spinners on as early as possible was a crucial turning point for us and it is something we have been working on as a team," he said.

"They bowled really well, they were magnificent and they definitely helped us get out of jail."

Ali said the pitch for the match was a tough one on which to score freely, especially against the slower bowlers, and that fact was borne out by the scorecard.

Plenty of batsmen got in with five of England's top six reaching double figures, but only Ali passed 50, reaching 54, although that took him 82 balls.

"You never felt in on that wicket, it was always a struggle," he said.

"Nepal bowled better than we expected too. Their spinners did not get much turn but they got the ball in the right areas and with the lack of pace it was difficult to work the ball around."

Apart from Ali's 54, England also had useful contributions from Mark Nelson (40) and Varun Chopra (38) but after reaching 87-1 they were unable to kick on to make a really big total.

Nepal coach Roy Dias felt Chaugai's retirement did his side's cause little good.

"It was (a turning point)," he said. "The whole rhythm of the game was changed.

"On top of that we had three stupid run outs and you cannot win matches with that sort of play.

"We dropped important catches too, we missed both Ali and Chopra, but overall I am not too disappointed. It was our first game and we gave England a hard game."

Hamilton-Brown was England's most successful bowler while only two Nepal batsmen reached 30 - Chaugai with 34 and Prem Chaudhary, who made 31.

Dias said Chaugai, who later resumed his innings after retiring, had a "slight strain" but he was hopeful the captain would be fit for the side's next match.

He has not got much to recover as Nepal are next in action on Tuesday against Zimbabwe.

England have an extra day to rest as they face Ireland on Wednesday. Only two sides from the group can progress to the Super League quarter-finals that are played on Saturday.

Ali said the win was another boost to his side's confidence which was boosted by a pre-tournament tour of Malaysia when they won all three matches they played.

"The atmosphere is really good," he said. "We are a bit disappointed with the way we played today but it was a massive lesson and we are in a winning habit.

"Everyone is out to make it three wins from three in our group matches," he added.