Nepal vs United States, ICC WCQ 2023, Today Match Prediction

nep vs usa Match Prediction & Analysis

Nepal and USA will lock horns in Harare as both teams search for their first win of the tournament. After a losing start, a win here becomes crucial to stay in the race for Super Sixes. 

Playing against West Indies in their opening game, USA showed promise with the ball as they got two early wickets of the Windies openers. They did a good job when it came to breaking partnerships as well.

Nepal, on the other hand, had a terrible day out with the ball in their match against Zimbabwe. A few good performances at the top helped Nepal post a 290-run score batting first. Nepal lost by 8 wickets and 35 balls to spare which doesn’t reflect well on their bowling.

Gajanand Singh was the exception in the USA batting lineup with an unbeaten hundred while the rest of them just failed to get going. Rohit Paudel will be expecting his bowlers to bounce back against the USA.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Nepal Preview

Rohit Paudel must be disappointed after his team’s loss to Zimbabwe in the opening game. Kushal Bhurtel’s 99 off 95 was the highlight performance for Nepal. Other than this there were many areas where Nepal fell short which eventually led to their defeat.

After a 171-run opening stand, Nepal could only manage to add 119 runs in the last 18 Overs on a flat pitch in Harare. Aasif Sheikh was too slow in his 66 off 100 as an opener alongside Bhurtel.

Kushal Malla looked in good touch at number 3 but failed to convert into something big. He will be a key player for Nepal in this game. Rohit Paudel is another such middle-order batsman who failed to convert a good start into something significant.

Someone in the middle order needs to play a longer innings and stay till the end to ensure Nepal finishes on high. In the last game, when Rohit Paudel was out, Nepal were 3 down for 246 with 7 overs remaining. All they could manage was 44 runs for 5 wickets in the remaining overs.

This needs to change if Nepal are to reach the super sixes. And needless to say, the bowlers need to stage a comeback. It was a terrible day for the bowlers as the opposition made a mockery of the 291-run target. Paudel used up to 8 bowlers and yet failed to put any pressure on Zimbabwe.

Sompal Kami, Gulshan Jha, and Sandeep Lamicchane will be key bowlers for Nepal. 

Nepal Predicted Playing XI:

Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (wk), Bhim Sharki, Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Malla, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane

Nepal Actual Playing XI:

Kushal Malla, Lalit Rajbanshi, Dipendra Singh Airee, Karan KC, Aasif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Gulsan Jha, Rohit Kumar Paudel, Aarif Sheikh, Sandeep Lamichhane, Bhim Sharki

United States Preview

The unbeaten hundred from Gajanand Singh allowed USA to shorten the margin of loss against West Indies. If it wasn’t for him, the USA could have been looking at a massive loss.

After 20 Overs, they were 5 down for 97 runs while chasing 298 runs. With the kind of bowling attack the Windies poses, cleaning up the tail of a less experienced side like the USA wouldn’t have seemed much of a challenge.

The fight back from Gajanand Signh at number 6 helped the USA reach beyond 250 runs. Shayan Jahangir and Nosthush Kenjige also made some handy contributions lower down the order.

Nosthush Kenjige is a left-arm orthodox bowler who was responsible for breaking the 115-run stand as he dismissed Shai Hope. The key bowlers who stood for USA against West Indies were Steven Taylor, Kyle Phillip, and Netravalkar.

Each of them picked 3 wickets each and helped their side restrict the opposition from posting an even bigger total. Skipper Monank Patel needs to lead from the front in the batting lineup. They will be up against an up and rising talented side in this match and need to bring their A game.

Monank Patel comes in at number 3 while Steven Taylor opens the innings along with Sushant Modani. The top-order doesn’t look threatening if you consider their stats but that’s all they’ve got right now. And if this top order doesn’t come through, the USA will be in all sorts of trouble.

United States Predicted Playing XI:

Steven Taylor, Sushant Modani, Monank Patel (c & wk), Aaron Jones, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Gajanand Singh, Shayan Jahangir, Jasdeep Singh, Nosthush Kenjige, Kyle Phillip, Saurabh Netravalkar

United States Actual Playing XI:

Gajanand Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar, Nisarg Patel, Nosthush Kenjige, Aaron Jones, Shayan Jahangir, Kyle Phillip, Jessy Singh, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Steven Taylor, Sushant Modani

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

It looks like a great batting pitch here at Takashinga Sports Club with both teams scoring 250+ in the only ODI played at this venue. It will be clear weather with a high of 26 degrees Celsius on the match day in Harare.

Venue Details

Takashinga Sports Club in Harare will host its second ever ODI as Nepal takes on USA in search of their first win of the tournament. The last game at this venue saw some impressive batting performances and we reckon there will be some more in this game as well. The team batting first should look for something over 270-275 to give them a good chance of winning this match.

Toss: To Bat

There has been just one ODI played on this ground which was between USA and West Indies on Sunday. Though it is a good batting track, we reckon teams would be more comfortable to defend a score than chase a big one.