Nepal fight to stay alive against in-form West Indies

From being one hit away from beating England to being hammered by T20 World Cup debutants Italy four days later, Nepal have seen the whole spectrum of emotions in Mumbai. Among the Associate teams at this World Cup, Nepal could easily have the biggest travelling contingent of fans, who must be wondering what would have been had Nepal sealed the thriller last Sunday that would have kept them far from their current bottom spot in Group C.

Fans' expectations and social media distractions are things Nepal head coach Stuart Law has warned his team about, now that they have slipped to a must-win situation. Nepal need to pick themselves up after being trampled by the Mosca brothers to face their table-toppers and the in-form West Indies. This is the same West Indies side Nepal had taken down 2-1 a few months ago in Sharjah, in the first bilateral series between the two teams. But this is, in reality, not the same West Indies side because that one in September was without most of the first-choice players that have turned West Indies' form around in this tournament after recent series losses against South Africa and Afghanistan at the start of the year.

It might take a mountain to climb for this defeated Nepal side to bring down West Indies, but there is hope. Nepal could learn from their two wins in September - and from Zimbabwe against Australia on Friday - that batting first might be the way to go to put pressure on stronger teams. Ever since West Indies have landed in India, they haven't been put under the pressure of chasing so far.

Nepal also have the advantage of being stationed only in Mumbai so far, which would have given them a fair idea of the red-soil conditions at Wankhede. Since it's a day game, Nepal may not mind being put in to bat if the toss doesn't go their way.

West Indies hardly have any headaches. Their batters are belting sixes, their pace bowlers have picked wickets, their spinners strangled England and they took excellent catches too. They would want to continue their winning streak and seal the Super Eights spot soon.

Nepal LLWWW (last five completed games, most recent first)
West Indies WWWLL

After being beaten by Michael Leask's arm ball in their opening match, Shai Hope would have been miffed for falling to a not-so-great ball against England. He bagged a duck and will be eager to lift his strike rate of 76 from the two games - the only West Indies batter who has struck at under 100 - as the tournament picks up pace and teams firm up their plans as per conditions and opposition. Hope will, however, draw confidence from the fact that he has been West Indies' leading scorer since the last T20 World Cup and their top boundary-hitter too, for both fours and sixes.

Nepal will be looking for a cracking start to overcome their Italian heartbreak, and they don't need to look any further than opening batter Kushal Bhurtel. He had taken down Jofra Archer and Luke Wood with a boundary barrage against the new ball that saw him smash 29 off 17. He is, however, due a big score and with his jersey number 14 as a dedication to Ricky Ponting, the muscular batter would want to emulate his idol in a crunch match.

West Indies packed a punch against England and won't feel the need to tinker with their XI on the same ground.

West Indies (probable): 1 Brandon King, 2 Shai Hope (capt), 3 Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Roston Chase, 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Gudakesh Motie, 11 Shamar Joseph

Nepal captain Rohit Paudel was down with fever on Friday night but should be good to go on Sunday after taking some medicines, Stuart Law said.

Nepal (probable): 1 Kushal Bhurtel, 2 Aasif Sheikh (wk), 3 Rohit Paudel (capt), 4 Dipendra Singh Airee, 5 Aarif Sheikh, 6 Lokesh Bam, 7 Gulshan Jha, 8 Karan KC, 9 Nandan Yadav, 10 Sandeep Lamichhane, 11 Lalit Rajbanshi

With four matches done at Wankhede, the pitch to be used for Sunday will be a fresh one and was watered a little on Saturday while it baked in the harsh sun through the afternoon. Since this is an 11am game, teams may not be tempted to chase the way they usually are in evening games. The pitch also had some grass which means runs could be in store. The temperatures are expected to soar above 30 degrees Celsius by the time the game ends.

"I like the underdog tag. You've got a free shot; you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. Hats off to Zimbabwe for their win."
Nepal head coach Stuart Law says his team is ready to take on West Indies

"Yes, they did defeat us in Sharjah, but most of our seniors weren't there. So It's a match we look forward to, but we know what they can do. We know what they're capable of."
Akeal Hosein remembers the series in which West Indies lost under him against Nepal but wants to put it behind him