Nepal face West Indies in must-win clash today

KATHMANDU: Nepal are taking on in-form West Indies in Group C of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Mumbai on Sunday, knowing that a defeat will end their hopes of making it to the Super Eight stage.

Nepal, which have not won a match in the ICC T20 World Cup since March 2014, suffered a narrow defeat to two-time champions England in the opening match and were hammered by T20 World Cup debutants Italy in the second. Their third group-stage fixture will be a daunting test, as West Indies have looked near-perfect in this T20 World Cup so far—with two comprehensive wins out of two matches played. They defeated Scotland by 35 runs in the first match and got the better of England by 30 runs in the second.

On the other hand, Nepal, who were one hit away from beating England, suffered a four-run defeat in their opening fixture but were thrashed by Italy in the second outing, losing by 10 wickets.

Nepal coach Stuart Law said in the pre-match press conference that they were disappointed with the effort against Italy. “It’s one thing to pull out a performance like we did against England and then to turn up and play a completely different game against the Italian team,” he said. “We went away from our game plan for whatever reason. Maybe we thought we were going to cruise through it, but it proved that the Italians didn’t allow us to play our game. That’s on us. We didn’t perform well.”

Law also said all the praise after the England game distracted the players. “To me, social media can be a huge distraction. If we’re focusing on what we’re doing on social media, if we’re focusing on what people are saying about us on social media and not focusing on what the team needs, what your teammates are saying, and what the game requires, you’re distracted from your actual job,” he said.

West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein said they want to put the series loss against Nepal behind them. “Yes, they did defeat us in Sharjah, but most of our seniors weren’t there,” Hosein, who captained the side in the series, said. “It’s a match we look forward to, but we know what they can do. We know what they’re capable of.”

Nepal and the West Indies have met each other thrice in T20I—in the Sharjahan tri-series in 2025. Nepal won the series 2-1.

Squads:

Nepal
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.

West Indies
Shai Hope (C), Shimron Hetmyer, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Jayden Seales, Romario Shepherd.