Spin it to win it - Italy beat Nepal in historic win

Punching the air and roaring in delight - Anthony Mosca's celebrations at the end of the chase showcased it all. Italy had created history by winning their first ever game at the T20 World Cup, overcoming Nepal by a whopping 10-wicket margin and 7.2 overs to spare. The Mosca brothers - Anthony and Justin - registered an undefeated 124-run opening stand. It was the Italian spinners, led by Crishan Kalugamage (3 for 18) and Ben Manenti (2 for 9), who restricted Nepal to an under-par score of 123 in the first innings at the Wankhede, setting the base for an easy win.

Bowling first, Itlay began with the offspin of Manenti. Kushal Bhurtel hit the first boundary of the innings off Ali Hasan but fell next ball as he mistimed one straight to point. Hasan conceded two boundaries off his next over, straying down the legside while Rohit Paudel hit two sixes towards the end of the PowerPlay.

Kalugamage, introduced in the seventh over, struck in his first over as Paudel holed out at widish long-on. Manenti had the other set batter Aasif Sheikh stumped as Nepal were in a spot of bother. Only 21 runs came from the 7th to 10th over before Aarif Sheikh hit back-to-back boundaries off Stewart. The Italian spinners continued to trouble the Nepalese. Once again wickets fell in a cluster as Kalugamage and Manenti got rid of Dipendra Singh Airee and Lokesh Bam respectively. Smuts had the set batter Aarif dismissed for 27 as Nepal were left staring down the barrel. Kalugamage picked up two in his final over as Nepal were 102 for 8.

Karan KC threatened to display some fireworks taking Hasan on for 14 runs in the 18th over before Nepal lost their final two wickets in the last over, with three balls left to play. Italy bowled 12 overs of spin in the first innings.

In the chase, Italy signaled their intent early as Anthony clubbed Karan for a six in the first over and there was no looking back from there. Spin was introduced in the second over but the Mosca brothers remained unfazed, finding boundaries for fun. Justin aced the slog-sweeps and swivel pulls scoring three sixes and three boundaries totally, in the third and fourth over as Italy reached 50 at the end of the fourth over.

Nepal couldn't stop the bleeding of boundaries and even their ace legspinner had no answers to the onslaught. Italy raced to the third highest score by an Associate side in PowerPlays of T20 World Cups at 68/0. The brothers brought up their fifties off back-to-back deliveries before Anthony sealed the chase with a single down the ground.

Brief Scores: Nepal 123 in 19.3 overs (Aarif Sheikh 27, Rohit Paudel 23; Crishan Kalugamage 3-18, Ben Manenti 2-9) lost to Italy 124/0 in 12.4 overs (Anthony Mosca 62*, Justin Mosca 60*) by 10 wickets