The opening match between the Division 5 finalists will be crucial for both the team as both consider each other as the biggest threat, and the remaining teams as outside contenders.[break]
If the WCL Div 4, which is a ladder to the World Cup 2015 qualification, sees no surprises, both the team are favorite to meet again in the finals. Other teams in the event are Italy, Cayman Islands, Argentina and Tanzania.
In earlier four meetings, Nepal had won two and USA has won one. USA won the crucial league match to qualify for the finals nearly sending Nepal out of the WCL Div 5 in Kathmandu. Nepal avenged the loss by defeating USA in the final to lift the title.
Despite some difficulties, Nepal has a high morale in Italy as they won both the warm-up matches convincingly with batsmen performing well. In the opening match, Nepal beat Bologna Cricket Club, a team comprising mostly Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi immigrants, by 288 runs.
In second warm-up against Cayman Islands, Nepal registered a seven-wicket victory after bowling out the opponent for 169. In those matches, Nepal had some good batting performances -- Gyanendra Malla scored 128, Anil Mandal scored 60 and 94 and Paras Khadka got 86.
The two warm-up matches also gave Nepal a much-needed taste of playing on astro, the artificial grass.
“On astro, batting must come good as there is little help for bowlers,” former captain Binod Das, who took four wickets in the first warm-up, told Republica. “The grounds are small too.”
Nepal was scheduled to practice on Friday but it was cancelled due to rainfall. “The weather forecast is similar for Saturday, so it´s going to play a part,” Binod added.
The team is still unclear about off-spinner Sanjan Regmi who was taken to hospital after being hit on nose during fielding in the warm-up match against Bologna.
Coach Roy Dias and captain Paras, before leaving for Italy, have voiced confidence for qualifying to WCL Div 3 in Hong Kong. “All the team members have worked really hard and I am confident of good results,” Paras said. “We are going to Italy to secure a final berth and then to fight for the title.”
Dias too was equally confident. “They have performed in the past and I hope they will do it again in Italy as well,” said Dias. “This squad, if performs to the potential, is capable of taking Nepali cricket to a new height.”
USA captain Steve Massiah also sounded confident. "We have good knowledge of Nepal who we played against in February and also Cayman Islands and Argentina whom we have regularly played," he was quoted on International Cricket Council (ICC) website. “I´m confident we´re prepared and ready to continue moving up the World Cricket League ladder."
Nepal Squad: Paras Kadka (Captain), Gyanendra Malla, Shakti Gauchan, Sharad Vesawkar, Mahesh Kumar Chhetri, Anil Kumar Mandal, Amrit Battarai, Basant Regmi, Binod Kumar Das, Sanjam Regmi, Rahul Kumar Vishwakarma, Mahaboob Alam, Manjeet Shrestha, Pradeep Airee.
USA Squad: Steve Massiah (Captain), Muhammad Asad Ghous, Steven Taylor, Rashard Marshall, Sushil Nadkarni, Timroy Allen, Orlando Baker, Carl Wright, Aditya Thyagarajan, Adrian Gordon, Lennox Cush, Khawaja Usman Shuja, Kevin Darlington, Nasir
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