Scotland crushed Italy by 73 runs in the T20 World Cup, driven by Michael Leask's spectacular all-round show. Leask blasted 22 off 5 balls and then took 4 wickets for 17 runs, securing a comprehensive win for his side at Eden Gardens.
Scotland defeated Italy by 73 runs in match 7 of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, at Kolkata's Eden Gardens on Monday. While George Munsey emerged as the top scorer of the match, it was Scotland bowler Michael Leask who proved to be the biggest differentiator between the two sides. Leask played a quick 22-run knock off just five balls and also took four wickets while conceding 17 runs in his quota of four overs. Leask was named Player of the Match for his match-winning performance.
Leask on his match-winning performance
After receiving his award, Leask said the team put in a lot of hard work ahead of the World Cup. "For me, it was just the full team performance today. Look, it's been a lot of hard work coming into this tour. We obviously hadn't had the prep time, but it just shows how much dedication we've got to what we've done," he said, according to Cricbuzz. "We trained hard and obviously, I know the guys are going to give me stick by bowling at right-handers, but getting three of their right-handers out probably was the most important. (On his knock) Similar to the day I played against the West Indies. Look, if it's in my arc, it's got to go. It's my job. It's what I've always done for this team," he added.
Leask said he approaches the game with a mindset to hit hard. "I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I play that same way on the field. If the first ball's there, I'll try and hit it for six, and today was no different. (On his bowling) Yeah, look, we learned a lot from game one. It was just a little bit more back of a length, a little bit more into the surface. Today, obviously, being the day match, it gave me a little bit more assistance, a little bit more spin and stop. Just driving it into that surface and trying to shut off one side of the field was really important. And then, obviously, it got a little bit lucky at times, but yeah, it's nice when days go like that," he said.
Scotland dominate with bat and ball
Playing their first T20 World Cup, Italy held tight through Harry Manenti (37 runs off 25 balls) and Ben Manenti (52 runs off 31 balls) but Scotland's experience proved a lot to manage for the Azzurris as Scotland's Leask claimed bowling figures of 4/17 in 4 overs to help Scotland bundle Italy out for just 134 runs, after scoring 207 batting first.
'A comprehensive win': Richie Berrington
During the post-match presentation, Scotland skipper Richie Berrington said it was "really important for us to bounce back strong today and put in a strong performance". "Really pleased to get our first win of the tournament. I think in the end, it was a pretty comprehensive win, but we knew we were going to have to work really hard for it. And I think really important that we got over 200 in that first innings on what was a very good wicket. He's (George Munsey) such an important player for us at the top of the order. He always sets the tempo, and he's certainly a hard batsman to bowl at when he gets going. We've seen him do it many times. So great to see him in form at the moment," he said.
"That partnership was so important up top after being put into bat for us to give us that platform to then accelerate towards the back-end of that innings. Finishing was really pleasing to see after the previous game, as we nailed that area today. As I said, we knew it was going to be important that we got over 200 today on that pitch. Great to see guys come out and play well in that phase of the game," he added.
Injury blow for Italy
Italy captain Wayne Madsen dislocated his left shoulder while fielding at mid-wicket, and vice-captain Harry Manenti assumed the skipper's role for the rest of the match. Madsen also did not come to bat.
After the loss, Italy's vice-captain Harry Manenti, said Wayne obviously had a tough fall in that power play there and hit the deck, and we believe he dislocated his shoulder. "So, obviously, more to come with that, and hopefully he's alright. And, Wayne's obviously our leader. He's played for a long time and was so deserving to show the world his abilities. So that's probably the sad thing for him personally and for us as a team, not to be able to see that shown on the world stage," he said.
"Obviously, that was a good total. We thought going into the break that they probably got me just above par, around par. So if we batted well and gave ourselves a chance to capitalise on that powerplay and kick on from there, we backed ourselves to chase it. Obviously, once you lose a few wickets, it's always tough, and then it's just one of those totals that you need things to go right for you, and it wasn't to be today," he added.
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