Scotland and Nepal eye positive finish in dead rubber

England's win over Italy ensured they joined West Indies as the two teams from Group C to qualify for the Super Eights, turning this contest between Scotland and Nepal into the tournament's first dead rubber. Both sides are already eliminated, but a victory would at least offer some consolation after campaigns filled with what-ifs.

Nepal opened their campaign by falling just four runs short of England's 184 in a spirited chase. What followed were two crushing defeats to Italy and West Indies, with recurring batting failures leaving the bowlers with too much to do. At the heart of Nepal's struggles have been their misfiring stars with Kushal Bhurtel struggling with both bat and ball while Sandeep Lamichhanne has gone wicketless since the England game.

Scotland's campaign has been a roller-coaster right from their unexpected entry into the tournament. A defeat to West Indies was followed by a commanding win over Italy before they were brushed aside by neighbours England. Yet they'll remain upbeat considering how well they've adapted despite their limited preparation. Their spinners have excelled, claiming 11 wickets at 24.63, the most among teams to have played all their matches in India.

Nepal have enjoyed the rare luxury of playing all their games at the Wankhede, gaining both familiarity with the conditions and strong backing from fans. The advantage, however, might still lie with the Scots. The venue has statistically favoured spinners this tournament, and Nepal's batting will face a stern test against a confident spin attack.

When: Scotland vs Nepal, February 17, 2026 at 7 PM IST
Where: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
What to expect: The Wankhede stadium has offered 2.2 degrees of turn on average – the most amongst all venues in this World Cup so far. The first three games were won by the teams batting first while the last two were won by the chasing side.

Safyaan Sharif injured his right groin ahead of Scotland's previous game and has since been replaced by Jack Jarvis. While they have no pressing reasons to make changes to their XI, they could still use the opportunity to give their bench players a run.

Probable XI – Scotland: George Munsey, Michael Jones, Brandon McMullen, Richie Berrington (c), Tom Bruce, Michael Leask, Matthew Cross (w), Mark Watt, Oliver Davidson, Brad Currie/Zainullah Ihsan, Brad Wheal/Chris Greaves
Probable XI – Nepal: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (w), Rohit Paudel (c), Dipendra Singh Airee, Aarif Sheikh/Basir Ahamad, Lokesh Bam/Sundeep Jora, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane

"If you keep listening to outside noise, it will be hard for all the players to perform in the next match. So we are keeping it outside and when the team is losing, it is very important to keep everyone very positive and we are trying to do that" – Nepal captain Rohit Paudel.

"Yeah, look, last game against England, we played in front of 50,000. And they were supporting us. So I think now we can expect probably less crowd, more noise, but to be supporting Nepal. So I think it's best of both worlds for the guys to experience that" – Scotland's Tom Bruce.