Late on Sunday night, the country’s football stalwart Christian Vieri had wished its cricketers good luck, hours before Italy’s maiden World Cup game. But that did not translate into a victory at Eden Gardens on Monday.
Scotland, losing their T20 World Cup opener to the West Indies last week, were by far the better side, beating the Italians comfortably by 73 runs to keep their Super Eight hopes alive. This was a sweet revenge for the Scotsmen, as they were beaten by Italy last year in the European Qualifiers for the ongoing World Cup.
Attacking knocks from opener George Munsey (84 off 54 balls), Brandon McMullen (41 not out off 18 balls) and Michael Leask, who made 22 not out facing the last five balls of the innings, powered Scotland to 207/4 after being put in.
In reply, Italy, who were a batsman short with captain Wayne Madsen unable to bat after dislocating his left shoulder while trying to stop a boundary, felt they had a chance when the Manenti brothers — Harry (37 off 25 balls) and Ben (52 off 31 balls) — fought back with their 73-run fourth-wicket stand. But following Harry’s departure off off-spinner Leask (4/17), the remainder of the Italian line-up perished quickly as the debutants folded for 134 in 16.4 overs.
Though only 6,928 turned out for the game, for Italy, the occasion couldn’t have been bigger. Alongside the top brass of the Italian Cricket Federation (FCRI), the country’s first-ever captain in competitive cricket — Francis Alphonsus Jayarajah, a Sri Lankan Tamil from Jaffna who had settled in Rome in 1968 — was also present in one of the hospitality boxes at the Eden.
“It was disappointing to see the guys lose, but we did put up a fight even without our best batsman Wayne,” Jayarajah told The Telegraph.
MoU with BCCI
The FCRI is also optimistic about signing an MoU with the BCCI this year. It includes programmes that can enable Italy’s young cricketers and coaches to learn and train in India.
“Our discussions with the Indian cricket board has been happening for a while. We hope the MoU will be signed by the end of this year,” Italian cricket CEO Lucca Bruno Malaspina said.
Brief scores: Scotland 207/4 in 20 ovs (George Munsey 84, Brandon McMullen 41 n.o.; Ali Hasan 1/21). Italy 134 in 16.4 ovs (Ben Manenti 52; Michael Leask 4/17). Scotland won by 73 runs.
