Captain Shai Hope led from the front with bat in hand as he scored a masterful 75 before marshalling his troops well in Kolkata. Shai Hope was brilliant and was the difference between the two sides. He scored 75 off 46 balls and others supported him well as West Indies posted a competitive 165/6 in 20 overs with finishing kicks provided by Rutherford and Forde.
In the second innings, it was all about Shamar Joseph who cleaned up the tail and got 4 wickets while Matthew Forde picked up early wickets and finished with 3 to his name while Gudakesh Motie got a couple as Italy never really got going in their innings and were folded for 123 in 18 overs. Italy showed promise but were not good enough to upstage the West Indies side as the two-time champions made it 4 wins in 4 games.
Shai Hope’s Brilliant 75 powers West Indies to competitive 165/6
Put into bat first, Brandon King and captain Shai Hope came out to bat for West Indies while JJ Smuts started proceedings for Italy. West Indies got off to a slow and shaky start as they lost an early wicket. Just 5 runs was on the board when Brandon King fell for 4 off 6 balls to Ali Hasan who picked up a wicket off the first ball he bowled. Shimron Hetmyer came out to bat next. Hetmyer hardly faced as Hope played most of the balls and played a great hand.
Hope was doing the bulk of the scoring while Hetmyer was just there at the other end. The duo added 26 runs for the second wicket before Hetmyer fell for 1 off 4 balls to Thomas Draca. Roston Chase came out to bat next. But it was Hope who was controlling the narrative. He scored the bulk of the runs while Chase hung in there going at around run a ball. Hope acceleration was great. West Indies were 48/2 in 6 overs of powerplay.
The duo aced the middle phase and made sure that West Indies were ahead of the game. The duo formed an important stand of 64 runs off 50 balls before Chase fell for 24 off 25 balls with 2 fours to his name to Ben Manenti. Rovman Powell came out to bat next. The duo of Hope and Powell took the innings forward and added 18 runs for the 4th wicket before Powell fell for 9 off 9 balls with one six to his name. Sherfane Rutherford came out to bat next.
Hope was looking good and was going well after his half-century before he fell for a well made 75 off 46 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Crishan Kalugamage as the bowler cleaned him up with 2 runs added to the tally. Jason Holder came out to bat next. Holder and Rutherford tried to forge another stand and added 22 runs for the 6th wicket before Holder fell for 9 off 7 balls with one six to his name to Kalugamage. Matthew Forde came out to bat next.
Rutherford and Forde joined forces when the score was 137/6 in 17.4 overs. The duo added quick runs and handy runs at the end. They tore apart Grant Stewart who went for 19 runs in the 19th over. But Italy for their part was doing well and kept things under check. The finishers Rutherford and Forde added 28 runs off the last 14 balls and stayed unbeaten till the end as West Indies ended with a competitive 165/6 in 20 overs.
Rutherford remained unbeaten on 24 off 15 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name while Forde remained unbeaten on 16 off 8 balls with 3 fours to his name. 3 extras given by the fielding side.
Italy did a decent job with the ball. Crishan Kalugamage was the pick of the bowlers for Italy with figures of 2/25 in 4 overs. Ben Manenti chipped in with 2/37 in 4 overs. Ali Hasan finished with 1/24 in 3 overs. Thomas Draca finished with 1/22 in 2 overs. JJ Smuts finished with 0/27 in 4 overs. Grant Stewart finished with 0/30 in 3 overs. This meant Italy needed 166 runs to win off 20 overs for a monumental upset.
All-Round bowling performance led by Shamar Joseph & Matthew Forde helps West Indies win by 42 runs
Chasing a stiff target for 166 for the win, Justin Mosca and Anthony Mosca came out to bat for Italy while Akeal Hosein had ball in hand for West Indies. The Mosca brothers tried to forge a partnership to give Italy a head-start but they got off to a shaky start as 12 runs was added to the tally before Justin fell for 2 off 5 balls to Matthew Forde who cleaned him up. Syed Naqvi came out to bat next.
Anthony played his shots and took on Akeal Hosein hitting him for sixes. But just 14 runs were added to the tally before Anthony fell for 19 off 12 balls with one four and two sixes to his name to Hosein. JJ Smuts came out to bat next. Wickets were falling at regular intervals in Kolkata. Just 11 runs were added to the tally before Naqvi fell for 6 off 10 balls to Matthew Forde. Captain Harry Manenti came out to bat next.
The powerplay score was 37/3 in 6 overs for Italy and in big trouble. Smuts and Harry added 20 runs more to give the team some respectability before Harry the captain fell for 8 off 10 balls to Shamar Joseph. Ben Manenti now came to replace his brother. Ben and Smuts tried to forge a partnership and added 21 runs for the 5th wicket before Smuts fell for 24 off 27 balls with 3 fours to his name to Gudakesh Motie as half the side was dismissed for 78 in 12 overs.
Grant Stewart came out to bat next and was quickly off the blocks. Ben and Grant resisted for the Italians against West Indies and took the fight as much as they could but could not keep it for longer. The duo added 25 runs for the 6th wicket before Stewart fell for 12 off 7 balls with a maximum to his name to Joseph. Gian Piero Meade came out to bat next. Ben was still there and added 12 runs with the keeper batter before Manenti fell for 26 off 21 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name as he was cleaned up by Motie. Crishan Kalugamage came out to bat next.
Just 2 runs were added to the tally before the keeper batter Meade fell for 4 off 8 balls to Matthew Forde. Thomas Draca came out to bat next. He hit a boundary as well but the end was near for Italy. 8 runs were added to the tally before Draca fell for 5 off 3 balls with one boundary to his name to Joseph once again.
Ali Hasan came out to bat next. He fell second ball to a silver duck caught behind as Joseph finished with 4 wickets. Kalugamage was unbeaten on 2 off 3 balls as Italy were bowled out for 123 in 18 overs. 15 extras given by West Indies.
For West Indies, Shamar Joseph was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/30 in 4 overs. Matthew Forde bowled well for his 3/19 in 4 overs. Gudakesh Motie finished with 2/24 in 4 overs. Akeal Hosein finished with 1/25 in 3 overs. Jason Holder finished with 0/19 in 3 overs. So, West Indies in the end win this match by 42 runs and finish the group stage with 4 wins in 4 games. Shai Hope was adjudged the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
So, West Indies finish with 4 wins out of 4 games while Italy finish with a win in 4 games and in 4th place. West Indies will go into the Super 8s stage and will face Zimbabwe first-up in Mumbai on Monday night. Plenty of group stage action to come on the penultimate day of the league stage of the tournament. Coming up next is a Group B clash where hosts Sri Lanka takes on Zimbabwe in Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Later on in the evening, it will be Afghanistan vs Canada in Group D game in Chennai.
So, a lot to look forward to even on a day which is dead rubber based.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: West Indies Make Early Inroads To Stall Italy.