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The Italian bowlers delivered a brilliant performance, restricting Nepal to a scant 123 runs in their group C match at the Wankhede Stadium in the T20 World Cup on Thursday.
It was a poor batting display from a spirited Nepal side, after they showcased their capabilities in their previous group-stage match against England at the same stadium in Mumbai, which they lost by four runs. Crishan Kalugamage was the main culprit for Nepal's underwhelming 123-run innings, picking up three wickets in four overs at a brilliant economy of 4.50. He conceded 18 runs in his spell. Coming to the match, Italy won the toss and opted to field first against Nepal. The Rhinos were off to a shaky start after losing Kushal Bhurtel (5) to Ali Hasan in the second over as Nepal scored 8/1. Aasif Sheikh and captain Rohit Paudel stitched a 41-run stand for the second wicket until they lost two quick wickets. Paudel lost his wicket to Kalugamage, and Aasif was dismissed by Ben Manenti, leaving Nepal crumbled to 49/3 in the eighth over. Then a vital 43-run fourth-wicket partnership between Dipendra Singh Airee and Aarif Sheikh followed, before another collapse. However, a sudden collapse happened after a brilliant bowling performance by Italy. Dipendra Singh Airee went after scoring 17, Aarif scored 27, Lokesh Bam (3), Gulsan Jha (3), and Nadan Yadav (0) as Nepal crumbled to 8/102 in the 17th over. Nepal lost 5 wickets for just nine runs. Towards the end, Nepal were bundled out for a below-par score of 123 in 19.3 overs. For Italy, Ben Manenti (2/9), Ali Hasan (1/34), JJ Smuts (1/22), Kalugamage (3/18) and Jaspreet Singh (1/8) were among the wicket takers. (ANI)
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