West Indies 165 for 6 (Hope 75, Kalugamage 2-25, B Manenti 2-37) beat Italy 123 (B Manenti 26, Joseph 4-30, Forde 3-19, Motie 2-24) by 42 runs
While Italy exited their maiden World Cup with a win against Nepal and many memories to cherish, West Indies sealed their fourth successive win at the venue where they will face India in their final Super Eight fixture on March 1.
Hope’s solo act
After West Indies were asked to bat first, they hit seven boundaries in the powerplay, and Hope was responsible for all of those. By the eighth over, the West Indies captain had zoomed to a 28-ball half-century. The first boundary by a West Indies player not named “Shai Hope” came in the tenth over when Roston Chase backed away and lifted left-arm spinner JJ Smuts over extra-cover.
Hope peppered the off side, scoring 46 of his 75 runs in that region. Anything that was remotely full and outside off was crashed in the arc between mid-off and point. When Italy dragged their lengths back, Hope was ready for it as well. Like when left-arm seamer Ali Hasan banged one into his upper body, Hope swatted him away over square leg for six in the fourth over. Hope was particularly severe on right-arm fast bowler Thomas Draca, taking him for 20 off nine balls.
Italy finally stopped him in the 16th over when legspinner Kalugagame bowled him with a tossed-up wrong’un.
Italy fight with the ball
West Indies were on track for 200, especially when Hope was in charge, but wristspinner Kalugamage combined well with offspinner Ben Manenti to drag them back. After being on 90 for 2 in 12 overs, a West Indies middle order that included the likes of Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford and Jason Holder could only manage 75 in the final eight overs on a fairly flat pitch at a ground with small boundaries.
Chase didn’t find his timing at any point, labouring to 24 off 25 balls before Ben Manenti had him holing out. Powell scored a run-a-ball 9 before also falling to Ben Manenti.
Forde, who retained his place in the XI ahead of Romario Shepherd, who had also missed the previous game with a niggle, made a cameo (16 not out off eight balls) to haul West Indies past 160.
Joseph and Forde close it out
After having the right-handed Mosca brother hopping to the inswinger, Forde brushed the off bail of the left-handed Mosca brother with an inducker. Daren Sammy, who also works with Forde at St Lucia Kings in the Caribbean Premier League, trusts his bowler to swing the new ball both ways. On Thursday, Forde showed that he can also bang it away on a hard length when he hit the splice of Naqvi’s bat and had him miscuing a catch to mid-off.
Akeal Hosein, another powerplay specialist for West Indies, got rid of Anthony Mosca for 19 off 18 balls. It was Joseph’s first catch of the day. He went on to take three more and four wickets to hasten the end for Italy. Joseph hit the deck harder than Forde and generated more extra bounce to discomfit Italy’s batters.
Ben Manenti was the only Italy batter to pass 25 in the chase. When Grant Stewart fell to a near yorker from Joseph for 12 off seven balls, Italy were 103 for 6 in the 15th over. Joseph came back to wrap them up for 123 in 18 overs and keep West Indies’ spotless record intact in this World Cup.
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
