T20 WC: Can Nepal challenge in-form West Indies?
What's the story
The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 is set for an exciting encounter as West Indies take on Nepal. The Group C match, the 25th of the tournament, will be held at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, February 15, 2026. After two consecutive wins, West Indies are riding high on confidence. They started their campaign with a win against Scotland and then delivered an impressive performance against England. Here is the match preview.
Team performance
Nepal still searching for first win
On the other hand, Team Nepal is yet to register its first win. They narrowly lost to England in their opening match and then suffered a 10-wicket defeat against Italy. Despite captain Rohit Paudel battling a fever, he is expected to play in this crucial match as Nepal look to turn their campaign around after a disappointing loss against lower-ranked Italy.
Details
Pitch report and other details
The Wankhede Stadium has hosted two matches so far, both of which were closely contested, with batting being largely challenging. Similar conditions are expected in the upcoming fixture as well. As the game will get underway at 11:00am IST, spinners are likely to play a major part. Meanwhile, the game will be broadcast live in India on the JioStar Network Channels. Live streaming can be accessed via Jio Hotstar app and website.
Information
When Nepal stunned West Indies!
In September-October last year, Nepal registered a historic T20I series win against the West Indies, their first-ever over a Full Member nation. They won the first two games before West Indies prevailed in the third and final one. The two teams have not met in T20Is outside this series.
Line-ups
Here are the probable playing XIs
West Indies (Probable XI): Brandon King, Shai Hope (c) (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph Nepal (Probable XI): Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Rohit Paudel (c), Dipendra Singh Airee, Aarif Sheikh, Lokesh Bam, Gulsan Jha, Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi.
Player spotlight
Here are the key performers
Rutherford's 42-ball 76* against England was laced with 7 sixes and 2 fours. He struck at 180.95. The encounter also saw Gudakesh Motie claim 3/33 in his four-over spell. Dipendra Singh Airee recently became the first Nepal player to complete 2,000 runs in T20I cricket. According to ESPNcricinfo, Lamichhane's economy rate of 6.08 is the second-best among bowlers with 130 T20I wickets.