T20 World Cup 2025/26, NEP vs SCOT 33rd Match, Group C Match Preview

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And yet both will go to their meeting in Mumbai wondering what could have been. Nepal were 11 runs from 8 balls away from victory in their opener against England, while Scotland were denied 30 runs in their innings against the same opponents, perhaps giving them more room to exploit the nerves they mustered in an ultimately unsuccessful defense of 152.

A comprehensive defeat to West Indies on Sunday closed all mathematical avenues for Nepal’s progress, before England’s number two on their Auld foe would come through another scrappy situation against Italy on Monday to secure their own Super eighth spot. And so, what could have been a true winner-take-all match is anything but. Regardless of the result, both teams will return home.

The contemplation at the hands of Italy felt like a blow to that cause, even though it shouldn’t be. Pitting associated nations against each other to think who deserves a bigger piece of the pie, be it funding or opportunities against big sides, is counterproductive, especially when the deck is stacked against them on those grounds in the first place.

These are issues Scotland know a lot about, even if their surprise entry into this tournament is their sixth visit to a T20 World Cup. Between the 2024 T20 World Cup and this one, they have played just seven T20Is outside of qualifying tournaments, and only three against a full member (a series against Australia in September 2024). They themselves have a statement to make on Tuesday.

Scotland’s initial three-match residency in Kolkata saw a 73-run win against Italy as they became the first team at this World Cup to surpass 200. It was marred by losses against the West Indies and England, although the latter did play in front of a crowd of over 40,000. It will also be well attended.

As such, there is a lot of familiarity at the ground for this encounter, which will be played on what has been a game-changing Wankhede track. Nepal’s three matches at this venue against Scotland’s gives them a considerable advantage, but their batting has not come close to replicating the heights that Kushal Bhurtel, Dipendra Singh Airee and Lokesh Bam threatened to take them against England more than a week ago.

Scotland also have mistakes to learn from, particularly their leg-side missteps against England when it comes to the sweep shot. “The nature of the wicket (at the Wankhede) probably looks even slower than Kolkata and may take more turns,” Tom Bruce said on Monday. We will see.

Form guide

Nepal: LLLWW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Scotland: LWLLL

In the spotlight

Team news

Nepal have been relatively consistent with their selections, sticking with 10 players and shuffling between Sher Malla (off-spinner), Lalit Rajbanshi (left-arm orthodox) and Sompal Kami (medium-pacer) for the last spot. The suggestion on the ground is that they could go into the West Indies match unchanged after Kami produced some handy but ultimately inadvertent lower-order runs with an unbeaten 26. Should they err on the side of spin, Malla could get the nod over Rajbanshi, whose single over against Italy went for 19.

Nepal (probable): 1 Aasif Sheikh (wk), 2 Kushal Bhurtel, 3 Rohit Paudel (capt), 4 Dipendra Airee, 5 Aarif Sheikh, 6 Lokesh Bam, 7 Gulsan Jha, 8 Karan KC, 9 Sompal Kami/Sher Malla, 10 Nandan Sandeep, 10 Nandan Sandeep, 11 Lam.

Scotland (probable): 1 George Munsey, 2 Michael Jones, 3 Brandon McMullen, 4 Richie Berrington (capt), 5 Tom Bruce, 6 Michael Leask, 7 Matthew Cross (wk), 8 Mark Watt, 9 Oliver Davidson, 10 Brad Wheal, 11 Brad Currie.

Pitch and conditions

Temperatures are expected to reach as high as 33 degrees Celsius in Mumbai, which is likely to exacerbate the slow, spinning nature of the surface Scotland expect to encounter. That it will be an evening game in Mumbai puts chasing on the table. Although three teams have fallen short in the five matches at this venue so far – USA v India, Nepal v England and England v West Indies – there are mitigations to be found in terms of strength of opposition and lack of intent within those examples.

Statistics and trivia

Quotes

“We definitely want to see a lot more thought put into how we play our cricket. We’re a very energetic team, a very passionate team with a big following who have come to watch us play. So we’d like to give that following something to remember this World Cup.”
Nepal consulting trainer Nick Pothas want to give the supporters something to take away from this campaign

“I actually thought the wicket played really well in Kolkata, and obviously it was our third game there as well, so, you know, you back yourself to learn quite quickly on that wicket and on that surface. So, looking forward, it’s about us adapting to conditions very quickly. We’ve obviously watched a few games that have been here.”
Tom Bruce on Scotland to adjust to new conditions ahead of their first game in Mumbai