Italy crushes Nepal by 10 wickets

KATHMANDU: Nepal suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Italy in the T20 World Cup, losing by 10 wickets as the European side dominated from start to finish in their first-ever World Cup appearance.

At Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, Nepal won the toss and chose to bat but struggled throughout their innings, being bowled out for just 123 runs in 19.3 overs.

Italy’s openers, Justin and Anthony Mosca, responded with a destructive partnership, chasing down the target in only 12.4 overs without losing a wicket, leaving Nepal with no real chance in the match.

Italy set the tone early, adding 68 runs without loss in the first six overs of the powerplay, before reaching 97 for no loss in ten overs, making the victory all but certain.

Justin remained unbeaten on 60 off 44 balls, hitting five fours and three sixes, while Anthony scored 62 off 32 balls with three fours and six sixes.

Nepal’s innings, in contrast, faltered from the start.

Opener Kushal Bhurtel fell in the second over for five runs off ten balls, immediately putting Nepal on the back foot.

By the sixth over, Nepal were 46 for 1, and by the tenth over, they had slipped to 67 for 3.

Captain Rohit Paudel and Asif Sheikh were key wickets for Italy. Paudel was caught at the boundary off Chrisn Calugamage after scoring 23 runs from 14 balls, including two sixes.

Aasif was stumped by Ben Manenti two balls later, contributing 20 runs off 20 deliveries with two fours.

Deependra Singh Airey made 17 runs off 18 balls but failed to hit a boundary.

Lokesh Bam also fell cheaply for 3, caught at the boundary attempting a big shot. Italy’s off-break bowler Ben Manenti was economical and effective, finishing with 2 wickets for just 9 runs in 4 overs.

Aarif top-scored for Nepal with 27 runs from 24 balls, including three fours, while Gulshan Jha managed only 3 runs off 4 balls.

Nandan Yadav was dismissed for a duck. The ninth-wicket partnership between Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane was the only positive for Nepal, adding 21 runs from 14 balls before Sandeep fell for 5. Karan remained unbeaten on 18 off 11 balls with a four and a six.

Lalit Rajbanshi was run out for zero. Chrisn Calugamage claimed 3 wickets for 18 runs in 4 overs.

Nepal now faces a challenging road in the tournament after a one-sided loss that highlighted both the brilliance of Italy’s debutants and Nepal’s struggle against top-class bowling.