KOLKATA: What was supposed to be a fairytale T20 World Cup debut ended in a 73-run defeat for Italy as the 10-man team went down to Scotland in their opening game of the tournament here at Eden Gardens on Monday. Their skipper, Wayne Madsen, dislocated his shoulder in the fourth over while fielding and did not take part in the rest of the match. It remains to be seen whether he is ruled out of the tournament.
Chasing a target of 208 on a flat pitch, Italy lost Justin Mosca on the very first ball. The left-hander was taken aback by the bounce on the surface and took the long walk back. It seemed to be a theme in the dismissals that followed as batters tried to hit on the rise and keep fighting fielders. Things did not look good when the 10-man team was reduced to 40/3 within the power play.
That is when the Manenti brothers — Harry and Benjamin — came together to build a partnership. The duo brought all the experience of playing inthe Big Bash to the table as Italy recovered. Together, they added 73 runs for the fourth wicket as it seemed like the debutants were taking control. That is when Harry fell for 37 off 25 balls. Benjamin went on to become the first Italian to hit a T20 World Cup fifty, but soon after the milestone, he too found the fielder (52 off 31 balls) as Italy lost their fifth. From thereon, things spiralled quickly as they were bundled out for 134/9 in 16.4 overs.
Earlier, put into bat, Scotland hit the ground running without wasting any time. George Munsey took it upon himself to set the tone while Michael Jones played along. Maden's injury came as a huge blow, leaving Italy scrambling two overs into the biggest game they have played thus far. And it showed as Munsen took apart the bowlers one boundary at a time.
Ali Hasan, Thomas Draca, JJ Smuts, the Manenti brothers — they all faced the wrath of Munsen, who had no trouble hitting through the line on what was a flat pitch with little to no movement. And it showed when the leggie Crishan Kalugamage was introduced much later into the contest. Even the wrist spinner could not extract any turn from the surface as he was hit over extra cover in the very first over.
The onslaught was such that Munsey was nearing his century while Jones was in his 20s. However, as fate would have it, Munsey missed out on his century, falling for 84. That gave Italy a breathing space, and soon Harry could be seen marshalling the troops.
Over the next few overs, Italy kept Scotland in check despite Brandon McMullen's counterattack. After 19 overs, Scotland were185/3 and it seemed like Italy had a chance to keep them under 200. Michael Leask, however, had other ideas as he smashed two sixes and as many fours, taking Scotland to 207/4 in 20 overs.
Brief scores: Scotland 207/4 in 20 ovs (Munsey 84, McMullen 41 n.o, Leask 22) bt Italy 134 in 16.4 ovs (Ben M 52, Harry M 37; Leask 4/17)