Nepal vs Italy T20 Cricket World Cup Predictions - Dipendra Singh Airee to steer Nepal’s fight for the playoffs

Simon Lewis

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Last updated: 59 minutes ago

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Simon Lewis 59 minutes ago

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Dipendra Singh Airee scored 44 off 29 balls against England.
Ben Manenti scored 52 off 31 balls against Scotland.
Can Nepal keep their World Cup hopes alive by beating Italy?

Dipendra Singh Airee sweeps against England (Getty Images).

Nepal vs Italy Predictions

Nepal put up a sterling performance in their opener to rock England, falling just four runs short of what would have been one of the great wins in T20 World Cup history. Italy have some quality players in their side but lost to Scotland by 73 runs in their opener, so I’m backing the exciting Nepal side to light up this World Cup.

Nepal vs Italy Predictions
Head-to-Head
Nepal Form
Italy Form
Nepal vs Italy Team News & Squads

Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee has scored 50* & 44 in his last 2 innings.
Nepal’s Lokesh Bam hit two sixes in his 20-ball 39* against England.
Italy’s Ben Manenti's 31-ball 52 against Scotland came at a strike-rate of 167.74.
Italy’s Harry Manenti hit three sixes in his 25-ball 37 against Scotland.

Head-to-Head

Nepal and Italy have never met in an official T20I.

Nepal Form

After beating the UAE and Canada in their World Cup warm-up matches, Nepal gave England a run for their money in their opening match of the World Cup, losing by just four runs after dominating much of the match.

Nepal’s bowlers struck three times in the first seven overs to put England under pressure, but a late flurry of 27 runs off 10 balls saw England post a daunting 184/7. Dipendra Singh Airee (2/23, econ 7.66) and Nandan Yadav (2/25, econ 8.33) both knocked over two of England’s top six batters, but Sandeep Lamichhane (1/25, econ 6.25) was the side’s most economical bowler.

Kushal Bhurtel (29 off 17) got the innings off to a flyer, reeling off four fours and a six as Nepal raced to 37 off 3.5 overs. Rohit Paudel (39 off 34, with two sixes) and Dipendra Singh Airee (44 off 29) added 82 for the third wicket as Nepal edged into the favourites lane in the match. Lokesh Bam slammed four fours and two sixes in his 20-ball 39* to take Nepal to the brink of what would have been an incredible victory.

Italy Form

Italy came into the World Cup on the back of a 2-1 series defeat against Ireland, winning the last match of that series by four wickets. The came up against a resolute Scotland side in their opening match of the World Cup, going down by 73 runs after their skipper was injured while fielding in the fourth over of the match.

Scotland took the Italian attack apart in posting 207/4 off their 20 overs. Ali Hasan (1/21, econ 5.25) was the only bowler to go for less than 9.5 runs to the over. JJ Smuts sent down four overs in picking up 1/38.

Despite having one of their key batters injured while fielding (Wayne Madsen), the Italian side where well placed at 113/3 after 12 overs, but they lost their last seven wickets for just 21 runs, being bowled out for 134 off 16.4 overs. JJ Smuts (22 off 11), Harry Manenti (37 off 25) and Ben Manenti (52 off 31) got Italy into a good position but didn’t have the legs to go the distance.

Nepal vs Italy Team News & Squads

Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel expressed his delight at his team’s performance against England during the post-match interview. "Result-wise it didn't go our way, but effort-wise I give 100% on fielding, bowling and batting. England were also struggling with death bowling, but Sam Curran bowled really well. It's hard for bowlers in death overs to bowl, especially yorkers, those slower bouncers. But I think we'll improve from there,” said Paudel.

"We were calculating for the last five overs. We wanted wickets in hand and at least 10 or 12 runs per over. So we were discussing about that only, and were targeting first two balls for boundaries. It was not a particular plan to take on Rashid, but we thought as a group that we could take on him today, and it went good for us,” added Paudel.

Italy’s South African-born captain Wayne Madsen was injured fielding against Scotland and didn’t bat. He is almost certain to miss the match against Nepal, with Marcus Campopiano tipped to take his place.

Speaking to BBC Radio Derby, Madsen confirmed that he had suffered a painful shoulder injury early in Scotland’s innings. "It wasn't the start I, or the team, was looking for. It's the first time I've dislocated my left shoulder. I have injured my right shoulder and had to have surgery a few years ago but the dislocation was different."

Madsen is optimistic about getting back into match fitness in time to play in Italy’s remaining group matches.

"I want to try to give myself as good an opportunity as possible to play in one or both games next week. I'm still optimistic that will happen but I'll be guided by pain and the body. I'd love to play in the England game but we'll see how things progress," added Madsen.

Nepal squad: Rohit Paudel (c), Dipendra Singh Airee, Sandeep Lamichhane, Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Sundeep Jora, Aarif Sheikh, Basir Ahamad, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Gulshan Jha, Lalit Rajbanshi, Sher Malla, Lokesh Bam.

Italy: Wayne Madsen (c), Marcus Campopiano, Gian Piero Meade, Zain Ali, Ali Hasan, Crishan Jorge Kalugamage, Harry Manenti, Anthony Mosca, Justin Mosca, Syed Naqvi, Benjamin Manenti, Jaspreet Singh, JJ Smuts, Grant Stewart, Thomas Draca.

Verdict

Nepal v Italy

I am backing Nepal to win. I am also backing Dipendra Singh Airee to top score for Nepal.

Ben Manenti is a good bet to top score for Italy.

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