KOLKATA, India (AP) — Italy won the toss and elected to field against high-flying West Indies in its last T20 World Cup game on Thursday.
West Indies has already qualified for the Super 8s with three consecutive wins in Group C and is in Group 1 with co-host India, Zimbabwe and South Africa. New Zealand, England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are in Group 2 of the second round.
Harry Manenti continues to lead Italy, playing its first-ever major ICC global event, after captain Wayne Madsen was ruled out of the tournament when he dislocated his shoulder at the same venue while fielding in the opening group game against Scotland.
Manenti hoped his bowlers would get some swing in the day game and take some early wickets.
“Hope there’s a bit in the wicket,” Manenti said at the toss. “We take some confidence from the England game and West Indies is another powerful team.”
Italy was beaten by Scotland and England in group games but shocked much-fancied Nepal with a resounding 10-wicket win in Mumbai.
West Indies top-order batters have scored aggressively with captain Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford scoring half centuries across the three group games.
Hope said he didn’t mind losing the toss because “it’s not in our hands” as West Indies went with an unchanged squad that beat Nepal by nine wickets in the last game.
Later Thursday
Zimbabwe, which knocked out Australia from the tournament, concludes its group stage with a game against Sri Lanka in Colombo later Thursday.
Afghanistan, which made the semifinals in 2024 and lost a thrilling double tiebreaker against South Africa this past week, will meet Canada in its last Group D match.
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West Indies: Brandon King, Shai Hope (captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Matthew Forde, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosain, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie.
Italy: Justin Mosca, Anthony Mosca, Syed Naqvi, Harry Manenti (captain), J.J. Smuts, Ben Manenti, Grant Stewart, Gian-Piero Meade, Crishan Kalugamage, Thomas Draca, Ali Hasan.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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