Italy vs West Indies Match 37 Full Commentary

We are back for the chase! The umpires are back out in the middle and so are the players of West Indies. The Mosca brothers, Anthony and Justin, are all set to open the innings for Italy. Akeal Hosein will get proceedings underway with the ball. A slip in place to begin with. Let's go...

... THE RUN CHASE ...

Chance to script history - Italy will be pleased with their bowling effort here, keeping things tight in the Powerplay as Ali Hasan and Thomas Draca struck early to pick up key wickets and put West Indies under pressure from the outset. The spinners then took control in the middle overs, with Crishan Kalugamage the pick of them, claiming a couple of wickets, giving away just 25 runs in his four overs, while Benjamin Manenti offered superb support with two of his own. The bowlers have done their job, now it is up to the batters to step up and produce something special to script a famous upset. Join us in a bit for the second essay.

Hope holds firm - West Indies stumbled early with a couple of quick wickets, but skipper Shai Hope held firm, anchoring the innings with a gritty 75 off 46 and sharing a 64-run stand with Roston Chase, who struggled for fluency. In fact, it was not until the 10th over that a batter other than Hope found the boundary. With little support from the middle order, the pressure mounted before a few lusty blows from Sherfane Rutherford and Matthew Forde at the death lifted them past the 160-mark.

Windies grind it out - Not the most fluent outing with the bat from West Indies, but they have still managed to put up a competitive score. Italy kept things tight for most of the innings, though 50 runs in the last five overs hurt them slightly. Hasan Ali finished brilliantly, conceding just 8 in the final over, as Italy restricted West Indies to their lowest first innings total of this World Cup.

Time for the final over. Can Italy keep the West Indies under 170? Ali Hasan has been given the task of closing out the innings. For Sherfane Rutherford, the bigger of the two square boundaries is on the leg side.

Grant Stewart to bowl the penultimate over. He has gone for 11 runs in his first couple of overs.

Another one bites the dust. Matthew Forde is the next man in.

Clean slate! So West Indies become the third team after South Africa and India to end the league stage with 4 wins in 4 matches. They go in with full confidence as they begin their Super Eights campaign against Zimbabwe, after a bit of a break, on Monday, 23rd February, 2026, at the Wankhede, in an evening match (1.30 pm GMT). Tough finish for Italy, who end with just a solitary win from the tournament, but walk away with their heads held high, finishing fourth, maybe, with a case of what-ifs. However, they have enthralled many a fan in the world and one would hope that we get to see a lot more of this unit in the future. We are done from the Eden Gardens, but the afternoon clash between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe has just kicked off in Colombo, at the Premadasa, with the Lankans opting to bat first. Do hop in to that matchcentre to catch all the action. ADIOS! TAKE CARE!

Need to be ruthless in our display - The victorious skipper of West Indies, SHAI HOPE, feels that the pitch was pretty decent. Adds that his batters should have got a bit more on the board. Understands that they got a few unfamiliar bowlers to face, but reckons that they could put a bit more impetus in the middle overs of the innings. Goes on to say that with due respect to Italy, when the Windies will face bigger and tougher oppositions, they need to put the bad balls away. On the match result, Hope says that he is very proud of his bowlers. Details that they are executing very well and just hitting the straps when they need to. Further says that the bowlers have got clarity and are showing it in the execution, naming them as one of the reasons for why West Indies are standing where they are right now. Wants his side to look at the past and use those experiences from the previous era, the champion side which once the West Indies were. Feels nice to see the guys giving out their best. Wants to carry on this momentum now. On the difference between being attacking and reckless, Shai admits that it is a fine margin. Details that the Windies have good batting depth, but feels that some batting smarts have to be applied. Stresses the need to be ruthless and capitalize on the bowling errors by the opposition. On the feeling within the group of reaching the Super 8 and the thought of going beyond, the skipper smiles but says that they are just happy to be in the next stage for the time being and want to take it one game at a time.

Important for all associate nations to be funded - The captain of Italy, HARRY MANENTI, says that his side was really confident and he is happy with their performance with the ball. Details that they knew about the firepower of the West Indies and to limit them to 165 with a shorter boundary was really commendable. On early Powerplay wickets during the chase, Manenti admits that losing wickets at crucial times, both in this game and against England has hurt his side. Rues the fact that they just could not get any partnerships going. Ian Bishop asks about Italy's analysis from this campaign. To which, Harry replies that he is really proud of the whole group. Explains that there have been stages in this tournament where different players have stood up. Gives an example of Crishan Kalugamage, who hurt his finger while taking a catch near the boundary in this game, but then came back and took a wicket on the next ball. Goes onto say that, similarly, others have stepped up when the time has come. On Italy's takeaways. the skipper points to the ability to stay in the fight, especially when good cricketers and teams like England and West Indies were going well. Rues that Italy were not able to nail a complete performance. Explains that they were good against Nepal and good against England for a long period of time, but unfortunately could not finish the job. Bishop now wants to understand what Italy feel about this World Cup format. To this, HM replies that it is important for all associate nations to be funded. Quickly adds that he understands that it is not easy, but states that if Italy can get some support from the ICC monetarily and also from the other teams, as in, if they agree to play bilateral series against his side, it would help Italy a lot. Ends by stressing that Italy are good, but lack of cricket is not quite allowing them to polish their skills.

Player Of The Match - For his stylish 75 (46). West Indies' skipper SHAI HOPE has been adjudged the PLAYER OF THE MATCH. Hope says that he always thinks about himself as to how can he contribute. Explains that in a game, he is only batting other than keeping. Feels that the Windies could have had more impetus with the batting at the back end, but is still happy with the result. On the preparations and plans for this clash, Shai admits that when you face an unfamiliar opposition, you are pretty unsure of what you could get. Adds that you do plan, but there isn't much information. Hence, he says that the Caribbeans tried to put more pressure against the new ball with the bat, and although they could not get too many, is pretty happy with the way his batters went about it.

... THE PRESENTATION ...

No firepower - It is not often that we say that a West Indian innings lacked bite. After being put into bat, the Windies too, struggled with the bat. Barring skipper Shai Hope, who was brilliant with a fine 75 (46), only three others managed to reach double digits, which is pretty much like how Italy batted as well. It was a strange innings, with momentum not quite coming for the two-time champions for too long. Eventually, they managed to get to 165/6, which was at least 15-20 runs short, but their bowling attack made it look like a 190. Italy did their bit with the ball, not allowing the game to drift for too long. Barring Grant Stewart, everyone managed to contribute well, although Benjamin Manenti received a bit of a tap towards the end. Crishan Kalugamage stood out once again. Please stay tuned for the presentation.

No momentum - Italy simply did not find any momentum during the run chase. 166 was by no means, a massive target but they just could not get things rolling at any stage. Lost the top three inside the Powerplay and struggled to forge a partnership at any stage. The highest partnership they managed was 25, when, for a brief moment, it seemed like Benjamin Manenti and Grant Stewart could achieve the task which had become mountainous by then. Just four batters managed double digits in a scorecard which had Mr. Extras as the fourth-highest scorer with a tally of 15.

Team bowling effort - 3-0-19-0 for Jason Holder. 9 with the bat earlier. In his 300th international game, he could not contribute much, but will gladly take his team's win. He is the only one of the 5-man attack who went wicketless, with Shamar Joseph and Matthew Forde sharing 7 wickets between them. In fact, it was a day out for the smiling assassin, Shamar - who not only picked 4 wickets, but also took 4 catches! There was hardly any passage of play where the bowling side seemed to be in pressure, as the Windies just did not allow any partnership to build. Additionally, they did not allow the opposition batters to run along with the score at any rate.

Comprehensive win - Not the strongest of displays by West Indies, but they will take this win. The score put up by the batters seemed to be a bit light but the bowlers have more than made up for it, dismissing an opposition for the third time in 4 games this edition. It seems very strange, but possibly for the first time since 2012, we can say that the bowling unit is working wonders for the Caribbeans.

Boy, that was a longggg wait for both, the dismissed and the new batters. Ali Hasan is the last batter in, replacing Thomas Draca. Not that it would matter, but at least for pride, Italy would love to finish off the game by playing out their 20 overs.

We will have a bowling change at this end, as Gudakesh Motie has bowled out. Shamar Joseph will bowl out now. 3-0-24-2 so far.

Into the bowlers now. Thomas Draca walks in next, at number 10, replacing Gian-Piero Meade.

Not quite sure what to make of this run chase now. 51 runs needed, 24 balls remaining does seem doable. But with just 3 wickets in hand... Crishan Kalugamage walks in next, at number 9, replacing Benjamin Manenti. Matthew Forde comes back on as well. 3-0-17-2 so far.