England have never been able to beat Italy in the World Cup. But hang on, that’s in football.

When the two sides square off at the Eden on Monday for the first time ever in a cricket World Cup, England will obviously be the overwhelming favourites.

On paper and cricketing history-wise, England are certainly miles ahead of the debutants, who are newcomers in the sport and first-timers in a tournament of such magnitude. Having said so, by no means are England taking the Italians for granted going into Monday’s crucial T20 World Cup game.

The five-wicket win over Scotland back on Saturday, highlighted by the performances of tweakers Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson as well as Tom Banton’s well-calculated 63 not out at No. 4, did bring in some relief in the English camp following a nervy win against Nepal and a loss to the West Indies.

However, pressure still exists as England are yet to assure themselves of a Super Eight berth.

That will be confirmed only if they don’t allow Italy to do what Zimbabwe did to Australia last week in Colombo. Besides, the Italian cricketers are quite buoyant, being fresh from the 10-wicket thumping they handed to Nepal in their previous game.

Italy are not here to “come and make up numbers”, their regular captain Wayne Madsen, who’s still trying to be fit after sustaining a shoulder injury against Scotland, asserted on Sunday.

“In sport in general, you can’t take anyone for granted. It quickly bites you, so we’ll have to do our research since we haven’t played against many of those guys,” Banton noted.

Peaking at the right time in a World Cup is of paramount importance. England, too, are aware of it.

“Look, we’re still searching for that perfect performance... Hopefully, we peak at the right time and yeah, we can go all the way.”

Maturity speaks

Back at the international level after a three-year hiatus, Banton’s maturity level certainly stood out under pressure. “I’ve been just a bit more mature with a better understanding of my game now. I just think I’ve got more of an understanding and I’m six, seven years older now.

“So, as a person, I’ve learnt a lot about myself. Even being away from cricket has kind of helped me I’d say,” Banton, 27, explained.