Toss Italy chose to bowl vs Nepal
Harry Manenti called correctly as Italy elected to bowl against Nepal in a Group C fixture at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Manenti was standing in for the injured Wayne Madsen, who dislocated his shoulder during their tournament opener against Scotland in Kolkata three days ago. Madsen going out meant one forced change, with Marcus Campopiano coming in. The other change was fast bowler Jaspreet Singh replacing Thomas Draca in a like-for-like change.
“We have to be brave, that’s been our focus point,” Manenti said. “We’re playing teams well above us in the rankings. We’re like the outsiders. We just have to be brave and take the game on.”
Rohit Paudel, the Nepal captain, too wanted to bowl first. But believes, from experience of having played England on the same surface, that there’ll be some turn on offer that his spinners can capitalise on in the second half.
They made one change, with mystery spinner Sher Malla being replaced by left-arm spinner Lalit Rajbanshi. Malla proved a touch expensive against England, conceding 35 in his three overs while picking up the wicket of Phil Salt.
Paudel underlined the importance of playing better in the death overs in both innings. Against England, Nepal conceded 21 off the final over; they lost by just four runs after failing to score the ten runs they needed off the final over.
“That’s one area we can improve,” he said of the death overs. “Both while batting and bowling. It’s about holding our nerves, absorbing pressure and be present in those moments.”
More than 15,000 Nepal fans cheered the team on against England, it’s likely there’ll be a similar crowd on Thursday, which Paudel hoped they could feed off.
“Great to have fans like them,” he said. “They motivate us a lot. After the England game, we saw on social media how a lot of people are watching us live in Nepal. It gives motivation to the boys.”
Italy: Anthony Mosca, Justin Mosca, JJ Smuts, Harry Manenti (capt), Ben Manenti, Marcus Campopiano, Grant Stewart, Gian Meade (wK), Jaspreet Singh, Crishan Kalugamage, Ali Hasan
Nepal: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Rohit Paudel (capt), Dipendra Singh Airee, Aarif Sheikh, Lokesh Bam, Gulsan Jha, Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi
