Clinical Italy trounce Nepal by 10 wickets

Italy trounced Nepal by 10 wickets to record a historic first-ever win in the men’s T20 World Cup, producing a clinical show in only the second match of their maiden appearance in the competition on Thursday. After their spinners ruled the roost to bowl Nepal out for a paltry 123, brothers Anthony Mosca (62 not out) and Justin Mosca (60 not out) put on a ruthless unbeaten opening stand to crush the Rhinos, who failed to live up to the expectations.

Chasing 124, Italy knocked off the runs with 7.2 overs to spare. The Younger of the two, Justin smashed three sixes and five fours to make 60 not out off 44 balls, while Anthony too cashed in on  deflated Nepal bowlers, clobbering six sixes and three fours to score 62 not out off only 32 balls. It was only the second match in T20 World Cup history for Italy, who had lost the tournament opener to Scotland by a massive 73 runs in Kolkata.

Nepal, who were touted favourites for this clash after their enormous effort against England at the same venue, cut a sorry figure. None of their batters could find a way to counter Italy’s accurate spin bowling and fielding, while they inexplicably held their best spinner Sandeep Lamichhane back for most of the powerplay. By the time Lamichhane, who has featured in various T20 tournaments including the Indian Premier League, was introduced into the attack, Italian openers had knocked 58 runs off from the modest target.

Anthony smacked one over long-on in the first over to set the tone, while Justin tore into Karan KC in the third, hammering two fours and a six, as Italy made a fiery start. The Mosca brothers hammered six each off Lalit Rajbanshi in the fourth over as Italy raised their half-century in no time. The Italians cruised at almost 10 runs an over with Nepal failing to produce any opportunity whatsoever, much to the disappointment of their fans who once again had filled up the Wankhede Stadium’s stands in large numbers.

Earlier, Ben Manenti (2/9) and Crishan Kalugamage (3/18) stifled Nepal batters in a remarkable display of spin bowling, as Italy bowled out their opponents for a low score. Spinners continued to dominate the proceedings here as Italy showed admirable precision with their line and lengths, combined with some terrific fielding, which kept Nepal constantly under the pump. Manenti strangulated the Nepal batters from one end, returning 4-0-9-2 while Kalugamage finished with three wickets.

Former South African player JJ Smuts claimed 1/22 from his four overs for the T20 World Cup debutants, as Nepal crumbled against pressure. Manenti’s exploits off the surface with his orthodox off-spin also made his younger brother Harry’s job much easier, who has stepped in after Italy lost their skipper Wayne Madsen to a dislocated shoulder. But Madsen’s absence was far from being felt in a unit which functioned like a well-oiled machine, with their fielders being present every time there was an opportunity of a catch.

Kalugamage trusted the grip off the surface to beat Dipendra Singh Airee (17) with a wrong-un that crashed into his off-stump, while opener Aasif Sheikh’s innings was cut-short with a brilliant stumping by wicketkeeper Gian-Piero Meade off Manenti in the eighth over.

It was as clinical a bowling performance as it gets from Italy, as they allowed no freebies from the outset and did not drop a single catch, keeping the partisan crowd largely silent. The Nepal innings ended with a run-out via a direct hit from the stand-in skipper Harry. None of the specialist Nepal batters could counter Italy’s charge on what remained a true batting wicket.

Nepal, who had come agonisingly close to beating England in their last outing here, began with an early dismissal of Kushal Bhurtel and since the beginning of the contest they remained under pressure. Only Rohit Paudel appeared to be counter-attacking when he hit two sixes, but the Nepal skipper was caught at the ropes despite having picked Kalugamage’s googly. Aarif Sheikh (27) hit three fours to lead the scorers for Nepal while Karan KC was left stranded on 11-ball 18 not out with one six and a four when the final wicket fell.