Mumbai: Justin Mosca and his brother Anthony forged a historic partnership as Italy chased down a modest target of 124 runs in just 12.4 overs with ten wickets in hand against Nepal in their second match of the T20 World Cup 2026, played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. This is also Italy’s first victory in the history of the tournament.
Chasing a small total, Italy, who were playing their first T20 World Cup, did not give a single chance to Nepal, who impressed everyone with a clinical performance in the last match against England.
Italy’s openers Justin and Anthony started hitting Nepal’s bowlers from the start of the innings. With this attacking approach, Italy were 68 for no loss at the end of the powerplay.
They continued the momentum further and tackled Nepal’s spinners by hitting all around the ground. Justin completed his first fifty of the tournament in just 37 balls, and he remained unbeaten at 60 off just 44 balls. Justin hammered five fours and three sixes during the innings and played at a strike rate of 136.36.
His brother, Anthony, completed his fifty in just 28 balls with a maximum in the 11th over. He also remained not out at 62 off just 32 balls. Anthony hit six massive sixes and three boundaries. He played at an impressive strike rate of 193.75 as he hit the winning runs for Italy.
Justin and Anthony Mosca’s partnership of 124* runs is the highest between siblings in the T20 World Cups, surpassing Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal’s 96-run partnership against Australia in the 2014 edition.
Earlier, right-arm leg-break bowler Crishan Kalugamage picked three crucial wickets as Italy bowled out Nepal for just 123 runs in 19.3 overs in their second match of the T20 World Cup 2026.
Coming to bat after losing the toss, Nepal were off to a bad start as their top batter, Kushal Bhurtal, who was struggling to get runs from the start, got out in the second over, scoring just five runs off the ten balls he played.
After a poor start, skipper Rohit Paudel and Aasif Sheikh forged a 41-run partnership off just 30 balls to take Nepal’s score to 46 at the end of the powerplay.
Italy finally made the comeback just after the power-play as they dismissed both the batters in a span of three balls. Rohit scored 23 runs off just 14 balls before edging out Crishan Kalugamage in the last ball of the seventh over, while Aasif scored 26 runs off 21 balls before being sent to the pavilion by Ben Manenti in the next over.
After the double blow, Dipendra Singh Airee and Aarif Sheikh built a 41-run partnership to take the team ahead. The duo didn’t take any risks at the start, as they focused on singles and doubles to put pressure on the opposition.
As they decided to break through by hitting the boundary, Italy again made a comeback with the wickets of Dipendra and last match hero Lokesh in the span of just five balls. Dipendra scored 17 runs off 18 balls, while Lokesh managed to hit just three runs.
Aarif helped the team cross the 100-run barrier but got out just after the team reached the three-figure mark. After Aarif’s wicket, Nepal’s team collapsed and got out with three balls remaining.
Brief scores:
Italy 124/0 in 12.4 overs (Justin Mosca 60*, Anthony Mosca 62*) beat Nepal all out for 123 in 19.3 overs (Aasif Sheikh 27, Rohit Paudal 23; Crishan Kalugamage 3-18, Ben Manenti 2-9) by 10 wickets.
(IANS)
