First match between Nepal and Sri Lanka in the first match of Florida

Nepal and Sri Lanka are facing each other at Broward Cricket Stadium in Lauderhill. This is the first international match between these two teams. Along with this, Nepal will become a team competing with 7 teams from South Asia.

After losing by 6 wickets to the Netherlands in the first match, Nepal will play three test nations in the next 6 days, starting with Sri Lanka. Nepal will play the last two matches of the group stage against South Africa on June 14 and Bangladesh on June 16 in St. Vincent. Sri Lanka will play their final group stage match against the Netherlands in Saint Lucia on June 16.

Nepal is under pressure to win the remaining matches to reach the Super Eight. The top two teams in the group will advance to the next stage. Sri Lanka is in a position to exit the tournament after losing the first two matches against South Africa by 6 wickets and Bangladesh by 2 wickets respectively.

Nepal's captain Rohit Paudel said that the pressure is on the Sri Lankan team as they lost in the first two matches. But this is Nepal's first game in Lauderhill. Having played two practice matches against the Netherlands and Ireland at this ground, Sri Lanka has become familiar with the wicket here.

In the first practice match, the Netherlands made a score of 181-6, while in reply, Sri Lanka was bowled out for 161 runs in 19 overs and suffered a 20-run defeat. In the second warm-up match against Ireland, Sri Lanka won by 41 runs. Batting first, Sri Lanka scored 163-8. Ireland were all out for 122 runs off 10 balls.

The Nepali team looked tired in the practice match against Canada in Dallas and the first match of the World Cup against the Netherlands. The Nepali team came to Florida on Wednesday and trained on Thursday. The next two days, Nepal could not practice due to rain.

Nepal spent Sunday in training and took a break on Monday. Sri Lanka did 'light training' on Monday. But shortly after starting the training, Sri Lanka stopped the training after the weather changed and started raining.

head to head

Nepal and Sri Lanka are going to compete in international cricket for the first time. This is Nepal's second participation in Twenty20. In 2014, Nepal played the Twenty20 World Cup for the first time. That edition in Bangladesh was won by Sri Lanka . Sri Lanka have suffered only two defeats in the 10 matches they have played against their first-ever opponents in the Twenty20 World Cup. Nepal has 2 wins and 2 losses in the total of 4 matches played in the World Cup. This is only the fifth match that Nepal is going to play in Twenty20 against a Test nation.

statistics

• Nepal's captain Rohit is 5 boundaries short of the milestone of 100 boundaries in Twenty20 internationals. Only Dipendra Singh Airi (126), Kushal Bhurtel (111) and Asif Shaikh (100) have hit more fours than Rohit. Rohit hit a total of 5 fours in the first match against the Netherlands.
• Sri Lankan captain Wanindu Hasaranga took 16 wickets in the 2021 World Cup, which is the record for most wickets in a single Twenty20 World Cup. Hasranga also took the highest 15 wickets in the 2022 World Cup in Australia.
• If he takes 3 more wickets, Sri Lankan captain Wanindu Hasaranga will equal Lasith Malinga's record of taking 38 wickets in the Twenty20 World Cup.

Who said what

Rohit Paudel, captain, Nepal

It is difficult to score runs because of the conditions, I think the conditions in Dallas and Florida are different . The matches are also being played in Florida and the wicket here is also different . If we look at the condition and play, we can defeat any team, that belief is within the team . There have been many surprising results in this tournament, it has put pressure on the Test nation, maintaining that pressure we want to win the match against Sri Lanka . If we pay attention to the basics, we seem to be ahead .

It seems that Sri Lanka is under more pressure than us. If you make a score of around 140 runs in this condition, it will be like a victory score . Rain is predicted for Tuesday's match, so only by looking at the condition will you know about the composition of the team . Sri Lanka is a very good team, we didn't take it for granted. But Sri Lanka has not been able to play well in this tournament . We haven't beaten a Test playing nation yet, so now we have that opportunity.

Akiv Javed, bowling coach, Sri Lanka

Now people are starting to understand what the wicket is like. We are the first team to progress through this process. We did not expect this kind of wicket in a tournament like the World Cup . We went and played on a pitch in New York for the first time . Now the other teams have guessed what score to make while batting first and how to follow that score . The Dallas wicket is said to be the best in America, but these new conditions have surprised us a lot. The opening batsmen have to watch a lot . Before playing here, it is better to see how you can get wet in the condition than to make a plan.

When I went to Nepal for the first time as a coach of UAE, I was surprised to see the passion for the game there, it was extraordinary . When playing in the stadium, thousands of spectators were also watching from outside the field . Once you develop a passion for the game, you are never far from achievement . I am happy to see that Nepal has been selected and played in the World Cup.