Mumbai, February 12 Italy defeated Nepal by 10 wickets to record a historic first win in the men's T20 World Cup, putting on a clinical performance in their second match of their debut in the competition, here on Thursday.
After their spinners dominated, bowling out Nepal for a meager 123, brothers Anthony Mosca (62 not out) and Justin Mosca (60 not out) put on an unbeaten opening stand, crushing the Rhinos, who failed to meet expectations.
Chasing 124, Italy completed the runs with 7.2 overs to spare.
Younger of the two, Justin smashed three sixes and five fours to score 60 not out off 44 balls, while Anthony also capitalized on the Nepal bowlers, hitting six sixes and three fours to score 62 not out off 32 balls.
This was the second match in T20 World Cup history for Italy, who had lost their opening match to Scotland by 73 runs in Kolkata.
Nepal, who were favorites for this match after their impressive performance against England at the same venue, performed poorly.
None of their batters could counter Italy's accurate spin bowling and fielding, while they inexplicably kept their best spinner Sandeep Lamichhane out of the game for most of the powerplay.
By the time Lamichhane, who has featured in various T20 tournaments including the Indian Premier League, was introduced into the attack, the Italian openers had already scored 58 runs from the modest target.
Anthony hit a six in the first over to set the tone, while Justin smashed two fours and a six off Karan KC in the third, as Italy started strongly.
The Mosca brothers hit sixes off Lalit Rajbanshi in the fourth over, allowing Italy to reach their half-century quickly.
Italy cruised at almost 10 runs per over, while Nepal failed to provide any opportunities, much to the disappointment of their fans who had once again filled the Wankhede Stadium stands.
Earlier, Ben Manenti (2/9) and Crishan Kalugamage (3/18) stifled the Nepal batters with remarkable spin bowling, as Italy bowled out their opponents for a low score.
Spinners continued to dominate here, as Italy showed admirable precision with their line and lengths, combined with some excellent fielding, which kept Nepal under pressure.
Manenti dominated from one end, returning 4-0-9-2, while Kalugamage took three wickets.
Former South African player JJ Smuts claimed 1/22 from his four overs for the T20 World Cup debutants, as Nepal crumbled under pressure.
Manenti's exploits with his orthodox off-spin also made his younger brother Harry's job easier, who stepped in after Italy lost their captain Wayne Madsen to a dislocated shoulder.
However, Madsen's absence was not felt in a well-oiled unit, with their fielders being present every time there was an opportunity to catch.
Kalugamage used his grip on the surface to get Dipendra Singh Airee (17) out with a wrong-un that crashed into his off-stump, while opener Aasif Sheikh's innings was cut short with a brilliant stumping by wicketkeeper Gian-Piero Meade off Manenti in the eighth over.
It was a clinical bowling performance by Italy, as they allowed no freebies and did not drop a single catch, keeping the partisan crowd largely silent.
The Nepal innings ended with a run-out via a direct hit from the stand-in skipper Harry.
None of the specialist Nepal batters could counter Italy's strong performance on what remained a batting-friendly wicket.
Nepal, who had come agonizingly close to beating England in their last outing here, began with the early dismissal of Kushal Bhurtel, and from the beginning of the match, they were under pressure.
Only Rohit Paudel appeared to be counter-attacking when he hit two sixes, but the Nepal captain was caught at the ropes despite having picked Kalugamage's googly.
Aarif Sheikh (27) hit three fours to lead the scorers for Nepal, while Karan KC was left stranded on 11-ball 18 not out with one six and a four when the final wicket fell.
