Mumbai, February 15 – The West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl against Nepal in their Group C match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Two dominant victories over Scotland and England have propelled the West Indies to the top of the table, putting them in a strong position for a Super 8s spot. Nepal, on the other hand, remain winless after a narrow four-run defeat to England and a heavy 10-wicket loss to Italy, making this match crucial for their chances.
After winning the toss, West Indies captain Shai Hope said, “Look, there’s a bit of moisture on the surface, probably more than we expected, so we want to take advantage of that. (How to maintain the same intensity?) You just said it, we just need to do the same thing. It’s important for us to ensure that we cover all our bases. We understand the threat they can pose. So it’s important that we just focus on our processes and execute to the best of our ability. Yes, one change. Shepherd is out, Matthew Forde comes in. Shepherd has been struggling a bit, but we just want to make sure that precautionary measures are in place, and Forde can come in and do the job. So we’re very happy to give him some rest today.”
Meanwhile, Nepal captain Rohit Paudel stated, “We also wanted to bowl, but we have to take the toss out of the equation. Batting first is a difficult task, but we have to follow our process and bat as long as we can. I thought we did well in the first six overs, but we struggled in the middle overs when we wanted to extend the partnership. Our lower middle order didn't perform as we wanted, so we want to correct that today. Yes, Sompal Kami comes in for Lalit Rajbanshi. Not much, but the wicket looks good and I think Sompal will be much more effective here.”
Playing XIs:
West Indies: Shai Hope (c & wk), Brandon King, Shimron Hetmyer, Roston Chase, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Holder, Matthew Forde, Gudakesh Motie, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph
Nepal: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Rohit Paudel (c), Dipendra Singh Airee, Aarif Sheikh, Lokesh Bam, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane
