Football-crazy Kolkata got to witness a stubborn Italian defence; England underperformed against a lower-ranked team at a World Cup – and all of it was happening at the 23000-strong Eden Garden in a game of cricket. Rivals on a football pitch for long – one known for putting the art in the art of defending, and the other industrialising football globally, Italy and England turned up for a T20 World Cup game in India – their first ever against each other at this stage. And even though it had no business of being a close game, the Italians kept the English at bay until the penultimate over. In recent major football events, Italy has had England’s number, even defeating them in the Euro 2020 final. It almost seemed to be the case in Kolkata on Monday when they needed thirty from the last two overs. But Grant Stewart, who had spent the previous two overs smashing frontline England pacer Jofra Archer for two sixes and then wily leg-spinner Adil Rashid for three, lost his wicket, calling curtains on underdogs Italians’ spirited fightback. To overhaul the steep target of 203 set by England, Anthony and Justin, the Mosca brothers needed to play out of their skins. But the pressure of the target got to Anthony who skied his very first ball and departed for a golden duck off Archer. Italy lost JJ Smuts to Archer in the same over when a rising ball caught him off guard as he nicked the ball to Jamie Overton. Captain Harry Manenti and Justin, Anthony’s younger sibling, tried a rebuild as Mosca slammed Archer for back-to-back fours while his skipper chipped in with a couple of maximums off Overton. The English pacer, however, had the last laugh as he forced Manenti to play a shot that was expertly taken by keeper Jos Buttler with one hand. Justin, a physical education teacher, meanwhile, showed little signs of slowing down as he carved Archer for two more boundaries. The other Manenti sibling, Ben, smashed Will Jacks for 13 runs with Italy posting 47/3 at the end of the powerplay. England introduced Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson with Ben welcoming both spinners with sixes. Sam Curran got brought into the attack and got the same treatment as Manenti deposited him over the ropes twice. He brought up his 50 and Italy’s 100 in the 12th over while England’s bowlers could only watch the onslaught helplessly. But then Jacks struck – Maneti, who had raced to 60 from 25 balls, tried to get another ball out of the boundary and fell. Justin departed 2 overs later, falling to Rashid for 43 and it seemed like Italy’s resistance would start to crumble. Curran snapped up Marcus Campopiano and Gian Meade next to break the back of the Italian middle order but big hitter Greg Stewart gave them some hope with some big hits before Curran accounted for his wicket as well for 45. That was that for the Italians as they fell agonizingly short by 24 runs.Story continues below this ad Jacks leads middle Earlier in the day, England’s openers flattered to deceive. Former Kolkata Knight Riders player Salt started well with a boundary off the very first ball of the innings before pulling Ali Hasan for a six. Buttler, however, failed to get a start once again falling to Stewart early for 3. Jacob Bethell replaced Buttler and immediately smashed two boundaries. Salt, however, fell right before the end of the powerplay, trying to clear the ropes with England reaching 56/2 at the end of 6 overs. Italy introduced spin from both ends next and stifled the England batters leading to Bethell losing his wicket for 23. Tom Banton and captain Harry Brook took the onus on themselves to consolidate the Three Lions’ innings. The two players chose their shots carefully until Brook swung wildly and nicked the ball behind to Gian Meade for 14. Banton continued his onslaught with a six off Kalugamage in the 13th over to bring up England’s 100 before falling to the Sri Lankan-born-Italian in the same over for 30. Jacks and Curran continued the flow of runs, helping England get over the 150-run mark in the 17th over. Curran, however, fell victim to Kalugamage, trying to play a back-footed drive which failed to get any elevation and nestled into the palms of Smuts. Jacks stayed unbeaten till the end, scoring 53 with England posting a daunting 202/7 – a target that looked like a winning score until the Italians almost pulled off an improbable chase. England may have reached the Super 8s, but they have lost to West Indies, almost got caught out by Nepal and narrowly escaped an Italian sprint to the final.
T20 World Cup: Football giants England and Italy serve up a cricket thriller in Kolkata
