T20 World Cup: England begin campaign against Nepal
What's the story
England will kick off their 2026 ICC T20 World Cup campaign against Nepal on Sunday. The match will be played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. England head into their series on the back of a 3-0 T20I series sweep against Sri Lanka. Nepal, who will be facing the Brits for the first time in international cricket, are underdogs for this encounter. Here is the match preview.
Team form
England would be high on confidence
Under Harry Brook's captaincy, England have performed well in white-ball cricket, winning ODI and T20 series in Sri Lanka. Notably, the two-time T20 WC champions have confirmed their XI on the eve of the game. Team Nepal is making its third appearance at the T20 World Cup after participating in Bangladesh in 2014 and the USA and West Indies in 2024. They qualified for the 2026 tournament by winning all seven matches in last year's Asia-Pacific Regional Final.
Game specifics
A look at the pitch report
The match between England and Nepal will start at 3:00pm IST. The Wankhede Stadium is known for its high-scoring matches, which could favor England's aggressive batting style. The weather in Mumbai at this time of year can be hot and humid, which could affect the performance of spinners from cooler regions. One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network and stream it on the JioHotstar app/website.
Team composition
Here are the probable XIs
England (Confirmed XI): Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (c), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood. Nepal (Probable XI): Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Rohit Paudel (c), Dipendra Singh Airee, Sundeep Jora, Aarif Sheikh, Gulshan Jha, Lokesh Bam, Sompal Kami, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane.
Performers
Here are the key performers
As many as 31 of Adil Rashid's wickets have come across 30 T20 WC games at 23.67. Having played 35 games in the tourney, Jos Buttler has scored 1,013 runs at an average of 42.20. The recent SL-ENG T20I series saw Sam Curran score a fifty and claim a hat-trick as well. With 129 scalps at 12.05, Sandeep Lamichhane is Nepal's leading wicket-taker in T20Is. Kushal Bhurtel owns 1,807 T20I runs at 29.14.
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