Toss Italy chose to bowl vs Nepal
“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.”
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