West Indies brush aside Italy by 42 runs to sign off group stage on high

Kolkata: Skipper Shai Hope’s second consecutive fifty and a disciplined performance by bowlers powered West Indies to a comfortable 42-run victory over Italy, ensuring that the Caribbeans finished their group stage campaign unbeaten in the T20 World Cup here on Thursday.

Despite a shaky batting performance, the Caribbean pace and spin attack clicked in unison, ensuring a winning momentum heading into the Super Eights from Group C.

Set a target of 166, Italy were bowled out for 123 in 18 overs with Matthew Forde (3/19), Shamar Joseph (4/30) and Gudakesh Motie (2/24) doing the bulk of the damage with the ball for West Indies.

Skipper Hope slammed a 46-ball 75 to guide West Indies to 165/6. Hope’s fluent knock with six fours and four sixes held the innings together, but experienced spinners Ben Manenti (2/37) and Crishan Kalugamage (2/25) choked the run flowin the back end to keep the total in check.