England survive Manenti, Stewart scare to secure progression

England's voodoo against their European counterparts in T20 World Cups nearly surfaced once again as Italy ran them close at the Eden Gardens on Monday (February 16). Despite their best efforts, the World Cup debutants fell short as England secured their berth in the Super Eights with a 24-run win.

Chasing 203, Italy's chase got off to a torrid start as Jofra Archer struck twice in the first over, bouncing out Anthony Mosca before getting JJ Smuts to edge to slip. Archer and Jamie Overton cranked up some serious pace, with the latter then getting rid of Harry Manenti, who attempted a ramp off a short ball only for wicket-keeper Jos Buttler to pluck a leaping catch.

Justin Mosca and Ben Manenti then mounted a counter-attack, with the former peeling off three boundaries off an Archer over before Manenti swung into action. After a couple of fours off Will Jacks, Manenti dealt in sixes alone. Drag-downs off Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson both disappeared into the crowd, while Sam Curran also took a hit in his first over. The fifty-plus stand for the fourth wicket infused life into the chase, with Manenti meting out some severe treatment on Jacks, raising his second half-century of the tournament off just 22 balls.

With hopes of a historic win raised, Manenti continued going for the big shots, although one too many led to his downfall for a 25-ball 60. That sent the asking rate up and Justin Mosca soon holed out in a bid to keep the chase afloat. A double-strike from Curran in the 16th over seemingly shut the doors on the Italians, but Grant Stewart had other ideas. With 65 runs needed of four overs, Stewart cut loose as five sixes came off the next couple of overs. Rashid, who was surprisingly asked to bowl the 18th over, was carted for 21 runs as the Italian dugout continued to believe.

However, Curran quashed those hopes in the penultimate over. Stewart was given out LBW, only for UltraEdge to detect an inside edge but he fell soon after for a valiant 23-ball 45. Overton's double-wicket maiden in the final over sealed a 24-run win and a Super Eights berth for England.

Earlier, England breached the 200-run barrier, but their batting display was far from convincing after opting to bat first, particularly through the middle overs. Phil Salt raced off the traps early, smashing the first ball of the innings to the fence, but there was no respite for Jos Buttler, whose poor run of form continued. In what was an encore of his dismissal against Scotland, he miscued Grant Stewart's first delivery into the hands of mid-off. Jacob Bethell, however, kept the momentum going before England cashed in on Stewart with a 17-run fifth over that took them to 50.

Salt pulled one to deep square leg in the final PowerPlay over as England ended the phase at 56/2. The spinners then tightened the screws before Bethell sat low aiming to help the ball behind square, only to arrow it down the throat of deep backward square leg. England managed just 32 runs between overs 6 and 10, shortly after which Brook cut loose off JJ Smuts with a four and a six. Smuts had the last laugh, however, as the England skipper nicked a short and wide delivery to the wicket-keeper. Tom Banton too failed to convert a start, heaving a Crishan Kalugamage's drag-down to deep mid-wicket.

At 105 for 5, England were under the cosh, leaving Jacks and Curran to wiggle them out of trouble. The game swung in the 16th over with Jacks taking Ben Manenti to the cleaners. Curran then went after Kalugamage with a couple of sixes before his dismissal brought a 54-run partnership to an end although enough momentum had been pumped into the innings ahead of the slog-overs.

Jacks piled up the misery on Italy, finding the fence regularly, with Jamie Overton chipping in with a cameo of his own. Jacks then raised a 21-ball half-century - the fastest by an Englishman in T20 World Cups - with a six, also taking England past 200 in the process to give the three-time champions a big score to play with - one that so nearly did not suffice, even as they scraped through.

Brief Scores:England 202/7 in 20 overs (Will Jacks 53*, Tom Banton 30, Crishan Kalugamage 2-41) beat Italy 178 all out in 20 overs (Ben Manenti 60, Grant Stewart 45, Jamie Overton 3-18, Sam Curran 3-22) by 24 runs