🏏ICC Men's T20 WC 2026: Group C, M 29: ENG vs ITA at Kolkata 🏏 - Page 3

Teams:

England (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook(c), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid

Italy (Playing XI): Justin Mosca, Anthony Mosca, JJ Smuts, Harry Manenti(c), Ben Manenti, Marcus Campopiano, Grant Stewart, Gian Meade(w), Jaspreet Singh, Crishan Kalugamage, Ali Hasan

Harry Manenti: We were going to bowl anyway, so it works nicely. We were tossing and turning what to do, nice I didn't have to make the decision. Coming of the win gives us the confidence. We came into the tournament confident. We are unchanged. Wayno is tracking well, he is not going to be ready today, will try in a few days time.

England have won the toss and have opted to bat

England have won the toss and have opted to bat

Harry Brook: We are gonna have a bat first today. There's not much in it stats wise. Going out there with the bat, being fearless and putting pressure on the opposition, not thinking about the result. Same team. Everybody knows we haven't.

England face unexpected test of nerve in Italy showdown

Banana-skin potential high with lowest-ranked side in competition raring to cause another upset

Big picture: England enter Il Leone's den

In any other context, this would be an ideal palate-cleanser for England as they reset their campaign and cast their eyes forward to next week's Super Eights in Sri Lanka. Saturday's five-wicket win over Scotland has put Harry Brook's team on the brink of progression, alongside the Group C leaders West Indies, and it would take perhaps the most embarrassing defeat in their international history for that to fail to come to pass.

But, in the context of what we've witnessed of England's campaign so far, is anyone willing, categorically, to rule it out? Not after the sensational scenes that the Azzurri set in motion in Mumbai last week, they won't.

If England's anxieties had been all too apparent in their last-ball victory over Nepal, then Italy's clinical dismembering of the same opponents four days later showcased an entirely different mindset. Their joy was infectious: simply to be part of the conversation at their first cricket World Cup was one thing, but to flood the occasion with talent, optimism and courage was quite another.

By the end of that ten-wicket win, with the Mosca brothers accelerating over the finish line with a combined haul of nine sixes in 76 balls, Italy were playing with a freedom and focus that England simply haven't been able to locate since the Ashes went south in December.

Harry Brook fell trying to ramp Michael Leask against Scotland

Twenty-four hours earlier, England themselves had slipped to a meek defeat against West Indies, after which Brook declared his batters had been "too careful". But as he's been demonstrating all winter long - including with his impetuous dismissal against Scotland - that boundary between aggression and recklessness remains hard for the skipper and his team to locate.

What an irony it would be, then, if Italy's willingness to "run towards the danger" proves their best means to close the gap on their illustrious opponents. On paper, it is clearly not a fair contest, and a big-game performance from one of England's big guns could yet leave us wondering what all the fuss has been about: between Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Brook himself, there are at least three batters who have yet to produce the statement performance that we all know lurks within them.

It certainly shouldn't require the sort of lion-hearted, backs-to-the-wall qualification bid that has come to epitomise England's football World Cup clashes with Italy. If Brook emerges in a bloodied headband, Paul Ince-style, to grind his team to their target, they might as well pack their bags and call it quits now. But so much of England's long winter campaign has been played in the head. Right now, they seem a little stuck inside their own thoughts.

Harry Manenti: We were going to bowl anyway, so it works nicely. We'll toss and choose which one we go, and I didn't have to make a choice in the end, so it worked out nicely. (what's the feedback from back home?) Yeah, the boys have been excellent. Everyone's up and about. We've had a really nice few days after a win just to settle back down and have a look at this game today. Obviously, massive game against England, but coming off the win gives us a bit of confidence and knowing we can take it there today. (where is the confidence and self belief that you can do something special?) Yeah, we're really confident at the moment. I think we came into this performance pretty confident. We didn't quite hit Scotland the way we wanted to, but coming in today, we're a little bit more calm and realising what we can do when we execute our skills. We are unchanged. (update on Wayne Madsen) Yeah, Wano's tracking well. He's obviously not going to be ready today. He's going to try again in a few days' time, get his wrist in, so fingers crossed.

Form guide:

England: W L W W W (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)

Italy: W L W L L

Both are coming from a victory but I think Italy has the potential to throw a scare into England. Whether they'll win or not is a different matter.

England won the toss and chose to bat first vs Italy

England will seal their qualification for the second phase of the T20 World Cup if they beat Italy on Monday afternoon in Kolkata, and chose to bat first after winning their fourth successive toss.

It means an opportunity for their batting line-up to fully click for the first time since they arrived in India, after an unconvincing start to the World Cup. Asked whether England had played their best cricket yet, captain Harry Brook smiled and said: “I think everybody knows that we haven’t, but we’ve managed to scrape through.”

They are unchanged from the team that beat Scotland on Saturday, with Jamie Overton retained as the third seamer ahead of Luke Wood. Brook called on his team to be “fearless” and explained his decision to bat first by saying: “There isn’t much in it stats-wise, we just fancy having a bat today.”

Italy, fresh from their remarkable 10-wicket win over Nepal in Mumbai, were happy to bowl first, which stand-in captain Harry Manenti said was the plan all along. Manenti said that his team has calmed back down after the elation of that victory, Italy’s first at a T20 World Cup.

“The vibes have been excellent. Everyone has been up and about…. Coming off a win gives us a bit of confidence,” he said, while confirming an unchanged team.

Wayne Madsen remains sidelined with the dislocated shoulder that he sustained while fielding against Scotland in Italy’s opening match, but is targeting their final group game. “He’s tracking well,” Manenti said. “He’s going to try again in a few days against West Indies, so fingers crossed.”

Italy can still qualify for the Super 8s if they win their final two group games, but would need to overcome both England and West Indies.

Harry Brook, England captain: We're going to have a bat today. We feel like it's the right decision. There isn't much in it stat-wise, so yeah, we just have to have a bat today. (what will be the key for them today?) I think in our case, the batters especially being fearless, looking to take it to the opposition and put them under pressure and thinking about the result rather than the risk. Same team. (have you played your best cricket yet?) I think everybody knows that we haven't, but we've managed to scrape through in a couple of games, which has been vital. So yeah, hopefully we can have a good performance today.

It looks like a lovely afternoon in Kolkata, and the surface is expected to be a good one for batting. We're seen some tall scores in T20 at this ground, although there was some assistance for spin in the England-Scotland game, and 150 wasn't quite as gettable as it looked on paper (although that might have been more to do with what was in the head, rather than under the feet, for England)

Italy, of course, are not out of contention for the next phase either. Beat England and qualification would be very much in their hands. In their favour is England's woeful record against fellow European nations at T20 World Cups, which encompasses two defeats to Netherlands, a loss and a no-result against Ireland, and another washout when Scotland were on the charge (before finally ending the hoodoo against the Scots on Saturday).

In the spotlight: Jos Buttler and Crishan Kalugamage

Whether it's symptom or cause remains to be seen, but Jos Buttler's displays so far in this tournament have been rather anodyne. His first two innings, against Nepal and West Indies, produced a pair of 20s that ended at precisely the moment that he usually seizes control, and though he reached 4000 T20I runs against Scotland, he didn't get past the second over. At the age of 35, this may be his last realistic chance to drive England deep into a World Cup campaign. The good news is that he should have plenty time left in the tournament to find his best form. The bad news for England will come if he can't locate it.

Crishan Kalugamage starred against Nepal

High-quality legspin has been a vital weapon in the tournament to date, and no player was more important to Italy's stunning win over Nepal than their own such weapon, Crishan Kalugamage. His figures of 3 for 18 not only ripped the heart out of Nepal's batting, they came just days after England's mighty Adil Rashid had been beasted by the same opponents at a rate of 14 an over, on one of the worst days out of his 17-year career. In a game where his team have nothing to lose, but against opponents whose anxieties against spin have been a defining feature of their performances, the stage is his to give it a rip and see what happens.