ICC Men’s T20 WC 2026 | Match 17: Nepal vs Italy | Preview and Predictions

Nepal will take on debutants Italy in Match 17 of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium on February 12, 2026. 

Both teams seek to make history coming into this afternoon encounter at the Wankhede; the winners of this contest will record their first-ever victory at any major ICC event. Nepal came agonisingly close in their opening group fixture against England, where they fell short by just four runs. Italy, meanwhile, were thoroughly outplayed by Scotland in their first game, although there were definitely some positives to take away. 

Here, we present our preview and predictions for the game.

ICC Men’s T20 WC 2026 Group C | Match 17: Nepal vs Italy | 15:00 IST, February 12, 2026

Against England, Nepal’s bowlers did a very good job on a deck that had something for both batters and bowlers. That said, giving the final over to Karan KC proved costly, as it allowed England to post a challenging total of 184 thanks to Will Jacks’ cameo. 

In reply, despite losing Asif Sheikh early in the Powerplay, solid contributions from opener Kushal Bhurtel (29 off 17), skipper Paudel (39 off 34), and Dipendra Singh Airee (44 off 29) kept Nepal in the game. However, it was Lokesh Bam’s unbeaten 39 off 20 that really made England sweat in the last few overs. Despite the outcome, this result would have galvanised the entire team to do even better in the coming fixtures. 

As far as their opponents are concerned, Italy played fellow associates Scotland in their World Cup opener and were comprehensively beaten by their more experienced opponents.

Bowling first, the Italian bowlers weren’t able to make much of the early morning bite that the Eden Gardens pitch usually offers. Once the Scottish openers settled, they started piling on the runs, making life difficult for the bowlers as the wicket got better as the innings wore on.  

Chasing a huge score of 207, Italy lost their top three inside the Powerplay before the Manenti brothers began rebuilding the innings, despite the required run rate slowly creeping up all the time. Once they were dismissed, the rest of the batting line-up quickly collapsed, with the team getting bowled out for 134 in the seventeenth over. 

In terms of weather forecast and pitch report, expect conditions to be clear throughout the game. As evident from the last two games played at this venue, despite shorter boundaries there has been an equal contest between bat and ball. 

Looking ahead to this fixture, Nepal certainly look the better of the two sides, and their spirited performance against England at this very ground will only give them more belief. Hence, we’re backing Nepal to finally win their first major game at an ICC event. 

Fantasy XI: Kushal Bhurtel, Anthony Mosca, JJ Smuts, Rohit Paudel, Harry Manenti, Dipendra Singh Airee (c), Ben Manenti, Lokesh Bam, Grant Stewart (vc), Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai 
Winners Prediction: Nepal