Shai Hope fifty powers West Indies to 4th straight victory as Italy exit T20 World Cup 2026
Two-time champions West Indies cricket team finished the group stage of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 with four wins from four matches after beating Italy national cricket team by 42 runs at Eden Gardens. Italy ended their first T20 World Cup campaign with just one victory in the tournament.
Mosca brothers opened the batting for Italy while chasing 166. Justin Mosca (2) fell early in the innings. Anthony Mosca started positively before departing on 19. Zain Naqvi (6) and skipper Harry Manenti (8) failed to make an impact as Italy were struggling at 61/4 at the halfway mark of their innings.
JJ Smuts (24) and Ben Manenti (26) looked good at the crease but failed to carry on and go big as the Windies bowled beautifully and kept picking regular wickets. The Italians failed to gain any momentum as they kept falling behind the required run rate and eventually got bundled out on 123 in 18 overs to lose the game by 42 runs.
West Indies stay unbeaten as Italy bow out in maiden campaign
Shamar Joseph bowled brilliantly for West Indies and finished with figures of 4/30 from his four overs. Matthew Forde (3/19) and Gudakesh Motie (2/24) picked up three and two scalps respectively as they defended the total successfully. Earlier, West Indies were asked to bat first and they lost Brandon King (6) and Shimron Hetmyer (1) cheaply inside the powerplay. Skipper Shai Hope played beautifully at the top of the order and received good support from Roston Chase as both put 64 for the third wicket.
Hope held the innings nicely and brought up a quickfire fifty. He scored 75 off 46 before getting cleaned up in the 16th over after Italy dismissed Chase (24) and Rovman Powell (9) to pull back things. Sherfane Rutherford (24* off 15) and Matthew Forde (16* off 8) played very good cameos at the back end of the innings as West Indies posted 165/6 on the board at the end of their 20 overs. Ben Manenti (2/37) and Crishan Kalugamage (2/25) picked up two scalps each for Italy. The batters then faltered and the Italian side fell short by 42 runs.
