T20 World Cup 2026: ‘Italy cricket can knock Winter Olympics off front page’ – Italy head coach reflects after historic Nepal win

Italy head coach John Davison expressed hope that his team’s historic maiden T20 World Cup victory would make front-page news back home, even pushing the ongoing Winter Olympics coverage down the sports pages. Italy scripted history by thrashing Nepal by 10 wickets in a Group C clash, marking a remarkable achievement in just their second match of the tournament.

Nepal were bowled out for 123 in 19.3 overs, with Aarif Sheikh top-scoring with 27. Crishan Kalugamage starred with the ball for Italy, claiming 3/18. In reply, Italy chased down the target in just 12 overs, powered by unbeaten knocks from brothers Justin Mosca (60* off 44) and Anthony Mosca (62* off 32).

“This will be front page news in a lot of countries and a lot of publications in Italy I would imagine…I’m hoping. For us to get that sort of exposure and maybe knock off the Winter Olympics off (to) the back page of the sport would be unbelievable for cricket in the country and (it would) just bring some attention to it,” said Davison after the match as quoted by NDTV Sports.

Stand-in captain Harry Manenti said that Italians would bring a different kind of passion to the game of cricket. He added that competing against top international teams would provide valuable exposure and help Italy’s players raise their standards and further develop their game.

“There’s a lot more players in the world that play cricket and don’t have the privilege that we have, to be able to show what we’ve got, to represent my family. My brother (Ben Manenti) is in the team with me. I don’t think you’ll see many players cry on the field after a win in the group stages. You’ve got to appreciate what Italy cricket is bringing to the game, understand that the passion is slightly different with the Italians,” said Harry.

“We want other teams to host us and we build facilities that host them back and that’s our goal as a team. That will provide opportunities for kids who are currently in Italy, learning the game at a school level, to see us playing in Rome or Milan or Bologna, wherever it might be, to see what the pathway is,” he added.

Harry admitted that the players come from diverse backgrounds and acknowledged that Italy still needs to develop stronger cricketing infrastructure. He also reflected on their heavy defeat to Scotland in the opening match, saying the team looked tentative in that game but displayed far better application and composure in their win over Nepal.

“We’re still a long way away from facilities, coaching within Italy, opportunities for guys to play cricket, and hopefully that comes from this tournament. We didn’t probably nail it the other night against Scotland, but today we showed what we’ve got in terms of intentions and our bravery, and that’s what rewarded us in the end,” said Harry.

Italy’s bowlers laid the foundation for the emphatic win by restricting Nepal to just 123, with Ben Manenti delivering an impressive spell of 4-0-9-2. The side had earlier suffered a 73-run defeat to Scotland in their tournament opener. Italy will next take on England on February 16 and West Indies on February 19, with both matches scheduled to be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

“Look, (the first over) is an important over to set the tone. When you win the toss and you bowl first, you want to try and start the game in an attacking way. We thought the way that we could look, there might be a little bit of spin and hold, so we tried to bowl as much spin in that power play up front as we could and then that’s what set the tone, we started well,” Harry concluded.