Italy’s Anthony Mosca (right) celebrates his half century during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between Italy and Nepal, at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai on February 12, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Fans turned up in large numbers at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday to cheer for Nepal. But in the end, it turned out to be a heart break for them as Italy assessed the conditions perfectly and pulled off a 10-wicket win to put its T20 World Cup campaign back on track.
Coming on the back of a defeat against Scotland in its opening fixture, not many expected Italy to put on a show against Nepal which lost narrowly to England. But with spinners Ben Manenti and Crishan Kalugamage making optimum use of the turning track and bowling Nepal out for a paltry 123, it turned out to be a cakewalk for Italy.
An unbroken 124-run partnership between openers Anthony Mosca (62 n.o., 32b, 3×4, 6×6) and Justin Mosca (60 n.o., 44b, 5×4, 3×6) saw Italy chase down the target inside 13 overs.
It was an emotional moment for the Mosca brothers, who denied Nepal a chance of a fightback with their aggressive batting, and guided the team home to not only grab crucial points but also improve its net run rate.
Justin and Anthony’s partnership was the highest between siblings in the T20 World Cup history, surpassing Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal’s 96-run stand against Australia in 2014.
Before the brothers hogged the limelight and stunned Nepal, Ben and Kalugamage dominated the show.
Nepal lost wickets at regular intervals. Ben, who opened the bowling, claimed two wickets conceding just nine runs, to set up Italy’s first-ever win in the World Cup.
The scores: Nepal 123 in 19.3 overs (Kalugamage 3/18, Ben 2/9) lost to Italy 124/0 in 12.4 overs (Justin Mosca 60 n.o., Anthony Mosca 62 n.o.).
Toss: Italy; PoM: Kalugamage.
Teams
Nepal: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh(w), Rohit Paudel(c), Dipendra Singh Airee, Aarif Sheikh, Lokesh Bam, Gulsan Jha, Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi.
Italy: Anthony Mosca, Justin Mosca, JJ Smuts, Harry Manenti(c), Ben Manenti, Marcus Campopiano, Grant Stewart, Gian Meade(w), Jaspreet Singh, Crishan Kalugamage, Ali Hasan.
Published – February 12, 2026 03:22 pm IST
