Nepal Eye Positive Finish After Hat-Trick of Losses

Mumbai: Nepal will play their final Group C match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 against Scotland at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:15 PM NST Tonight.

After three consecutive defeats Nepal are still searching for their first win of the tournament. The team will aim to end their campaign on a positive note. Scotland will also look to finish strongly in the group standings. West Indies and the England already qualified for the Super 8 stage While Nepal, Scotland and Worldcup debutants Italy have been already eliminated from the qualification race.

Narrow Defeat to England

Nepal began their campaign with a competitive performance against England but suffered a four run defeat in a closely contested match. England posted a total of 184 runs after wining the toss & batting first. Jacob Bethell scored 55 runs from 35 balls. Captain Harry Brook added 53 runs from 32 deliveries. Will Jacks contributed 39 runs from 18 balls.

For Nepal, Nandan Yadav and Dipendra Singh Airee claimed two wickets each. Young debutant Sher Malla dismissed Phil Salt with the first ball of his international career. Sandeep Lamichhane also picked up one wicket.

In reply Nepal fought strongly during the chase. Kushal Bhurtel scored 29 runs. Dipendra Singh Airee top scored with 44 runs. Captain Rohit Paudel and Lokesh Bam each added 39 runs. Nepal required 10 runs in the final over but only five runs were scored which resulted in a narrow defeat.

(Lokesh Bam & Karan KC) Image Credits: Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN)

Disappointing Loss to Italy

Nepal delivered an underwhelming batting performance against Italy and were bowled out for 123 runs. Aarif Sheikh scored 27 runs. Rohit Paudel made 23 runs. Aasif Sheikh contributed 20 runs and Karan KC added 18 runs.

Crishan Kalugamage claimed three wickets for Italy while Ben Manenti secured two wickets.

The target of 124 runs was successfully chased by Italy in 12.4 overs without the loss of a wicket. A century opening partnership was built by brothers Justin Mosca and Anthony Mosca which sealed a ten wicket victory for Italy. Nepal were unable to take a single wicket during the innings.

(Rohit Paudel ) Image Credits: Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN)

West Indies Outplay Nepal

Nepal once again faced difficulties in their match against West Indies. After being sent in to bat Nepal lost their top three batters inside the powerplay and only 22 runs were scored during that phase which was the lowest powerplay total of the tournament. Kushal Bhurtel Rohit Paudel and Aasif Sheikh were dismissed early.

The middle order struggled before vice captain Dipendra Singh Airee played a composed innings of 58 runs from 47 balls. Sompal Kami added an unbeaten 26 runs from 15 deliveries which helped Nepal reach 133 runs for eight wickets in 20 overs.

Jason Holder took four wickets for West Indies. Akeal Hosein Matthew Forde Shamar Joseph and Roston Chase each claimed one wicket.

The target of 134 runs was chased comfortably by West Indies in 15.2 overs with the loss of only one wicket. Shai Hope scored 61 runs from 44 balls. Brandon King added 22 runs while Shimron Hetmyer contributed 46 runs from 32 balls. A nine wicket victory was secured by West Indies.

(Nepal Cricket Team) Image Credits: Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN)

Final Opportunity Against Scotland

Scotland enter this fixture after defeats against West Indies and England but secured a win over Italy. Nepal remain the only team in Group C without a victory. The match against Scotland provides Nepal with one final opportunity to restore pride and finish their World Cup journey with a win. All attention now shifts to Wankhede as Nepal seek a positive conclusion to their campaign.

Form guide

Nepal: LLLWW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)

Scotland: LWLLL

Here's the both teams Probable XI for today's Clash

Nepal: 1 Aasif Sheikh (wk), 2 Kushal Bhurtel, 3 Rohit Paudel (capt), 4 Dipendra Airee, 5 Sundeep Jora 6 Lokesh Bam, 7 Basir Ahmad, 8 Karan KC, 9 Sompal Kami, 10 Nandan Yadav, 11 Sandeep Lamichhane.

Scotland: 1 George Munsey, 2 Michael Jones, 3 Brandon McMullen, 4 Richie Berrington (capt), 5 Tom Bruce, 6 Michael Leask, 7 Matthew Cross (wk), 8 Mark Watt, 9 Oliver Davidson, 10 Brad Wheal, 11 Brad Currie.