T20 World Cup 2026: Scotland inflicted a crushing defeat on Italy in the T20 World Cup 2026 on Monday. The Scottish side, a wild card entrant in the Group C match, won the clash by a decent margin of 73 runs. Scotland opener George Munsey played a blistering innings, while all-rounder Michael Leask impressed with his bowling, taking four wickets for 17 runs. This was his career-best performance. Chasing 208, Italy were bundled out for 134. Ben Manetti (52) scored a half-century for Italy, while Harry Manetti (37) played useful knocks, sharing a 73-run partnership. Italy were restricted to 16.4 overs.
Batting first, Scotland scored 207 for four with the help of left-handed batsman Munsey’s 84 off 54 balls with two sixes and 14 fours and his 126-run opening partnership with Michael Jones (37) and became the first team to cross the 200-run mark in the current tournament. Brendon McMullen (41 not out, 18 balls, four sixes) and Leask (22 not out, five balls, two sixes, two fours) batted aggressively in the end. Leask scored 22 runs in the last over off Thomas Dreka with two sixes and two fours.
Italy suffered an early blow when captain Wayne Madsen injured his left shoulder in the fourth over and had to leave the field. He was unable to play any further part in the match. Scotland missed out on a direct World Cup berth after suffering their only defeat in four matches against Italy in the European qualifiers last July. Scotland secured a place in the tournament after Bangladesh refused to play in India due to security concerns.
Chasing the target, Italy lost Justin Mosca off the very first ball, a superb catch by Munsey at backward point off Leask. JJ Smuts (22) opened his account with a four off Leask, then hit two sixes and a four off consecutive balls off Brad Wheal before being caught by Scotland captain Richie Berrington off Brad Currie. At the end, Italy were bundled out for 134.
Scotland Playing XI: George Munsey, Michael Jones, Brandon McMullen, Richie Berrington (c), Tom Bruce, Matthew Cross (wk), Mark Watt, Michael Leask, Oliver Davidson, Brad Wheal, Brad Currie.
Italy Playing XI: Anthony Mosca, Justin Mosca, JJ Smuts, Wayne Madsen (c), Harry Manenti, Ben Manenti, Grant Stewart, Gian Piero Meade (wk), Chrishan Kalugamage, Thomas Draka, Ali Hasan.
