Shai Hope top-scores as the West Indies beat Italy to enter the Super 8s of the T20 World Cup as Group C toppers.
Key Points
- Skipper Shai Hope top-scored with a 46-ball 75 as the West Indies beat Italy by 42 runs.
- The West Indies finished on top of Group C, unbeaten.
- Shamar Joseph (4/30) and Matthew Forde (3/10) were the top bowlers for the Caribbean side
- Italy's bowlers, led by Ben Manenti and Crishan Kalugamage, restricted West Indies to 165 for 6.
Skipper Shai Hope Shai Hope's second consecutive fifty and a disciplined performance by the bowlers powered the West Indies to a comfortable 42-run victory over Italy, signing off their Group C campaign in the T20 World Cup in style, in Kolkata, on Thursday.
Despite a shaky batting performance, the Caribbean pace and spin attack clicked in unison, ensuring a winning momentum heading into the Super Eights.
Set a target of 166, Italy were bowled out for 123 in 18 overs, Matthew Forde (3/19), Shamar Joseph (4/30) and Gudakesh Motie (2/24) doing the bulk of the damage with the ball for West Indies.
Skipper Hope slammed a 46-ball 75 to guide West Indies to 165 for 6 after Italy opted to field.
Hope's fluent knock, laced with six fours and four sixes, held the innings together, as experienced spinners Ben Manenti (2/37) and Crishan Kalugamage (2/25) choked the run flow in the back end to keep the total in check.
On a batting-friendly Eden Gardens surface, with a lightning outfield, where England's 202 was nearly chased down by Italy in the previous game, the target looked underwhelming at the innings break.
But the West Indies bowlers got the job done without much hassle.
Young pace-bowling all-rounder Forde, who had conceded just 10 runs and taken a wicket against Nepal in Mumbai, set the tone in the powerplay with another tidy spell. He was exceptional with the new ball, returning figures of 2/17 in three overs.
Forde struck in his first over as Justin Mosca was bowled for 2, done in by an in-ducker. He then removed Syed Naqvi with a hard-length delivery that shaped away as the batter tried to smash and was caught at mid-off.
Shamar Joseph was the pick of the bowlers, using the short-ball strategy smartly. He ended Italy's resistance by taking the key wicket of Grant Stewart in the 15th over, effectively sealing the contest.
Wily left-arm spinner Motie was outstanding in the middle overs. He foxed the batters with his guile, keeping scoreboard pressure intact and removing JJ Smuts (24) and the in-form Ben (26) just when they were looking to accelerate.
At the halfway stage, with Ben at the crease, the chase still looked possible. But Italy kept losing wickets after the early blows from Forde.
The successive dismissals of Stewart and Manenti -- who had shared a blistering 92-run stand off 48 balls against England -- hurt them badly.
Italy thus finished their campaign with one win from four matches, their lone victory coming against Nepal.
The West Indies, who had already sealed their Super Eights berth, topped the group with all wins.
Captain Hope Revives West Indies
Put in to bat, the West Indies lost in-form Shimron Hetmyer (1) for a single-digit score for the first time in the World Cup, while opener Brandon King (4) also fell cheaply in the powerplay, but the Windies skipper batted effortlessly.
Italy struck with left-arm seamer Ali Hasan removing Brandon King (4) with his first ball.
But Hope, fresh from an unbeaten 61 against Nepal, counterattacked in style drilling a wide half-volley from fast bowler Thomas Draca through extra-cover.
Hasan then erred in line as Hope crashed two more fours through the off side before pulling him for a six over square leg in a 14-run over.
Hope brought up a 28-ball fifty while striking four sixes and six fours in a 46-ball knock, but Roston Chase's sluggish 24 off 25 balls (2x4) hurt the momentum.
It dragged the Windies innings down, and even as Hope got boundaries at will, Chase looked tentative, and struggled to rotate the strike before holing out to deep forward square.
The pressure mounted with two quick wickets -- Chase and Rovman Powell (9) -- as experienced off-spinner Manenti and Sri Lanka-origin leg-spinner Kalugamage turned the tide in Italy's favour.
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