Nepal can be proud of how they pushed England in their opener. Chasing 185, they needed only eight from the last three balls before ending four runs short. Kushal Bhurtel scored 29 off 17 and captain Rohit Paudel 39 off 34, then Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee added 82 for the third wicket. Airee hit 44 off 29 and has more than 2,000 T20I runs and 60 wickets in 91 matches. Lokesh Bam smashed 39 at a strike rate of 195 late on.
With the ball, Airee and Nandan Yadav took two wickets each against England, and Sandeep Lamichhane, who has 130 wickets in 69 T20Is, is always a threat on subcontinental pitches. Karan KC and Sompal Kami add balance.
Italy had a hard introduction to World Cup cricket, losing to Scotland by 73 runs. JJ Smuts scored 22 off 11 and the Manenti brothers steadied the chase, with Ben making 52 off 31 and Harry 37 off 25, but the lower order faded. Ali Hasan, Thomas Draca, Smuts and Grant Stewart took one wicket each; Stewart took six wickets in three games against Ireland before the tournament, and Crishan Kalugamage has 11 wickets in the past year.
