STAYING ALIVE: England & Nepal, Pakistan & The ICC + Pete & A Cooker Pub

·39 min·2 clips

Nepal “absolutely took [Adil Rashid] to the cleaners” for 42 off three overs.

Gideon Haig and Pete Lalor start with Nepal. They frame the England game as a near-upset that went all the way to the final delivery, and they take it as proof that Nepal are a solid cricket team and a real problem for higher-ranked sides. They note that people have already been calling them the new Afghanistan, meaning a side capable of knocking over plenty of teams above them, and they say Nepal have been tracking well for about five years. The World Cup context keeps opening out. The USA making India sweat a bit and the Netherlands pushing Pakistan to the brink sit alongside Nepal as part of the same odd tournament mood. The tone is part amazement, part admiration. The hosts sound like they watched it live and are still sorting through the crowd, the last-over tension, and how close it came to being settled on the final ball. The performance gets respect, not patronising praise. Then the episode slides into a long sponsor-read about roaming fees, eSIMs, compatibility with iOS and Android, 24/7 support, multiple plans in over 150 countries, and a first-purchase discount code. The ad break is playful and repetitive, with the usual banter and digressions. After that, the episode closes with a live-pod announcement and a quick sign-off. The result is an episode that mixes sharp cricket reaction with the messy, conversational rhythm of two hosts working through a genuinely good game.

As heard by us

A tense Nepal-England near upset, World Cup shocks, and lively cricket talk.

England's near miss against Nepal gives the episode its best edge, and Gideon Haig and Pete Lalor sound genuinely unsure what to make of the last ball.

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Why you'd press play

For the night Nepal nearly caught England at Wankhede.

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