Shamar Joseph dazzled with a spectacular four-wicket haul as West Indies cruised to a comfortable 42-run victory over Italy in their final group stage clash of the T20 World Cup on Thursday at Kolkata. This triumph helped West Indies, who had already secured their Super 8s spot, finish Group C undefeated with a perfect four-out-of-four record. Italy’s chase of 166 at Eden Gardens turned into a wicket-tumbling affair, with batsmen departing regularly until they were dismissed for just 123. Joseph sparkled with impressive figures of 4/30 for the Caribbean side, who had earlier compiled 165/6 thanks to skipper Shai Hope’s brilliant 75 from 46 deliveries. Hope And West Indies Bowlers Displayed Ruthless Towards Italy .
TOSS
Italy won the coin flip and decided to bowl first.
PLAYING XI
Italy (Playing XI):
Justin Mosca, Anthony Mosca, Syed Naqvi, JJ Smuts, Harry Manenti(c), Ben Manenti, Grant Stewart, Gian Meade(w), Crishan Kalugamage, Thomas Draca, Ali Hasan
West Indies (Playing XI):
Brandon King, Shai Hope(w/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Roston Chase, Sherfane Rutherford, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Matthew Forde, Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph
WEST INDIES
Following Italy’s toss victory and their choice to bowl, the Italian attack looked sharp early on, sending Brandon King and Shimron Hetmyer packing for modest scores. But West Indies skipper Shai Hope took charge with a delightful knock of 75 from 46 balls, smashing six crisp boundaries and launching four towering sixes. Hope discovered a reliable partner in Roston Chase, as the duo stitched together a solid 64-run stand for the third wicket.
Things got a bit wobbly toward the end as West Indies tumbled from a comfortable 95 for 2 to a concerning 115 for 5, thanks to Ben Manenti’s double strike. Sherfane Rutherford (24* from 15) and Forde (16* from 8) came to the rescue with some late fireworks, pushing their team to a respectable total of 165 for 6. Still, Italy probably walked off feeling pretty pleased at the break, having kept the powerful Caribbean batting lineup to a chase-able score.
ITALY-
As per the match situation, Italy’s batting team faced difficulties regarding scoring runs against West Indies bowlers who bowled very well. Forde basically took two quick wickets of Justin Mosca and Syed Naqvi, and Italy was struggling at the same score of 61 for 4 at halfway point because PowerPlay wickets made them play slowly again. JJ Smuts (24 off 27) and Manenti (26 off 21) showed some fight in the middle order, but the required run rate itself went further beyond their reach.
Basically Joseph finished the match with the same brilliant bowling, taking 4 wickets for just 24 runs. He actually took four catches along with his four wickets, which is definitely a first in both men’s and women’s T20I cricket.
As per the match result, Italy got all out for 123 runs in 18 overs. Hope got the Player of the Match award for his important half-century, as per which West Indies moved to the next round as one of the strongest teams in the tournament.
Brief scores:
Further, basically, West Indies scored 165/6 with Shai Hope making 75 runs, and Italy got all out for 123 runs, so West Indies won by the same 42 runs difference.
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