England vs Italy Highlights, T20 World Cup 2026: England beat Italy by 24 runs to qualify for Super 8s

Jofra Archer to Justin Mosca, Italy are up and running in the chase! Jofra Archer starts with a full delivery, on leg. Justin Mosca looks to flick it but falls over a bit. It goes off the inside edge onto his pads and rolls towards square leg. A single taken.

Welcome back for Italy's reply with the bat. The English players spread out to the field and take their respective spots. The Moscas - Anthony and Justin - are the two Italian openers. Jofra Archer has the new ball and is raring to go. Justin to face. Here we go again!

... THE RUN CHASE ...

Recovery through death - Sam Curran and Will Jacks' quickfire 54-run partnership shot the run rate massively in that acceleration phase. The onslaught began from the 15th over, and from there, England smashed 88 runs, with Will Jacks playing a gem of a knock at the right time, getting to his maiden T20I fifty. Once again, Italy's death-over bowling came under the scanner as they leaked too many at the back end. They now have a massive task to scale down a huge target against a quality bowling lineup. Can their batting unit sustain strongly? We shall find out in the run chase which will commence very shortly. Please stay tuned.

Cross bat woes - The bowling from Italy was good, but England's stroke-making was questionable, especially from the top four or five. Bethell, Salt, and Banton all fell playing cross-bat shots, undone by the extra bounce. Banton tried to bring some momentum in the middle overs, but England kept losing wickets just as a batter got settled. From 92/3, they slipped to 105/5, leaving Sam Curran and Will Jacks with yet another rebuilding task.

A slippery start - The pitch was true and bouncy, perfect for hitting, but not everything went England's way. Salt started with some intent, Buttler was a bit more conservative, but could not really get going. Salt and Bethell added 33 runs in a small recovery, but their aggressive approach didn't last long. At 56 for 2 after the Powerplay, England were still in a reasonable spot, while Italy stayed composed with the ball.

Big surge puts England in front - England were 107/5 in the 13th over, and even 180 looked very tough to achieve, but cricket is a game of uncertainties. Every single over after the 14th went for double digits and thanks to Will Jacks' intent-laden batting, England managed to breach the 200-run mark as well. This is the second-highest first inning score at Eden Gardens in T20 World Cups, and interestingly, both the top scores came against Italy. The Italians bowled decently, were good in patches, but their efforts were not rewarded well by sloppy fielding. 

Grant Stewart to Will Jacks, Communication failure and it is a dot ball! Wonder what happened there. Last ball of the innings and it is pretty understandable that the batters have to run, come what may. Stewart bowls a wide yorker, outside off, Jacks looks to reach out but misses. He looks for the bye but Archer has not even taken a start! Eventually, the batters decide against it. ENGLAND FINISH ON 202/7!

2 balls left then. Jacks, one suspects, will face both balls. If not boundaries, then Archer has to sprint hard for twos.

Grant Stewart to Will Jacks, SIX! 21-BALL 50 FOR JACKS! What an audacious way to get to your MAIDEN T20I FIFTY. Full, outside off, Jacks gets down on a knee and slogs it towards deep mid-wicket. It does not have enough elevation and Jacks has targetted the bigger boundary. There is a fielder at deep mid-wicket and he leaps but the ball just about evades him! 200 UP FOR ENGLAND.

Grant Stewart to Jofra Archer, On a length, outside off, Jofra punches it through the covers for a single.

Grant Stewart to Jofra Archer, WIDE. Wide yorker, outside off, left alone by Archer, wided.

3 balls left. Jofra Archer walks in next, at number 9, replacing Jamie Overton.

A bit of a mid-pitch chat between the two batters.

Grant Stewart to Jamie Overton, OUT! CAUGHT! The wide yorker line results in a wicket. Just short of a yorker length, full and way wide outside off, Jamie Overton has to reach out for it, as he looks to carve this over point. He does connect, but does not have enough power from the bottom hand. The ball goes high in the air and Crishan Kalugamage takes it calmly at deep point. The 35-run stand is broken and ENGLAND ARE 194/7 AFTER 19.3 OVERS.

Grant Stewart to Will Jacks, Low full toss, outside off, Jacks hammers it past the bowler towards long off for a single.

Grant Stewart to Will Jacks, SIX! CRASH! England into the 190s now. Will Jacks backs away to the leg side and the bowler tries to follow him. But it is a knee high full toss and Jacks swings it with power over mid-wicket. The stand moves to 34 (14).

Final over coming up.

Ali Hasan to Will Jacks, End of a 9-ball over, which results in 13 runs. 73 runs in the last 5 overs. Another wide yorker, outside off, this time Will puts bat on ball and hits it down to long off for another single. Take out that one six and 3 wides, it has been a brilliant over. 4-0-37-1 for Ali Hasan.

Ali Hasan to Jamie Overton, Legal ball this time. Outside off, Jamie drags it towards long on for one.

Ali Hasan to Jamie Overton, WIDE. Number three in the over now. Similar to the previous ball, full and well outside off on this occasion, but past the tramline. Overton cannot connect with his steer.

Ali Hasan to Jamie Overton, WIDE. Second of the over. Once again, Hasan flirts with the wide guideline, targetting that wide yorker and comes second. Overton throws his bat at it and misses too.

Ali Hasan to Will Jacks, Another wide yorker outside off. This time Will Jacks throws his bat at it and gets a thick outside edge. Luckily for Italy, it goes straight to short third. Just a single.

Ali Hasan to Will Jacks, WIDE. Yorker, yes. But this goes well past the tramline. Left alone.

Ali Hasan to Jamie Overton, Better ball. Full and wide outside off, nearly a yorker, all Jamie can do is hit it towards long off for a single.

Ali Hasan to Jamie Overton, SIX! CRACK! Barring Buttler, every England batter has hit at least one six today! Hasan goes into the surface, but with a short leg-side boundary, it is an easy invitation for the batter. Overton goes back, picks the length in a trice and pulls it over mid-wicket!

Ali Hasan to Jamie Overton, A dot to start. Excellent yorker, outside off, from over the wicket, Jamie Overton looks to steer it towards deep third but misses.

2 overs left. 200 seems on now. Ali Hasan returns. 3-0-24-1 so far.

Grant Stewart to Will Jacks, FOUR! 14 from the over, 60 in the last 4! Full and outside off, Jacks gets under it and powers it over mid off for the second boundary of the over!

Grant Stewart to Will Jacks, Another lovely ball, around the yorker length, 125.5 kph, but Will Jacks is upto it and works it to the bigger part of the ground at mid-wicket. Easy couple.

Grant Stewart to Jamie Overton, Slower ball, 126.6 kph, (doubt it was slow then), very full, on middle, Overton digs it towards mid-wicket and the bowler himself gets to that. A single taken.

Grant Stewart to Jamie Overton, FOUR! The boundaries keep coming. Neatly played. Stewart goes for the wide yorker again but Jamie Overton intentionally goes hard at it, and carves it over short third for a boundary.

Grant Stewart to Jamie Overton, WIDE. Attempted wide yorker, but it lands too far outside off. Left alone.

Grant Stewart to Will Jacks, On middle and leg, worked through mid-wicket for a run.

Grant Stewart to Jamie Overton, Full, on middle, Jamie Overton pushes this through mid on for a single.

With Manenti bowled out, we will have a bowling change from this end. Grant Stewart returns. 2-0-22-1 so far.

Crishan Kalugamage to Jamie Overton, A googly to finish, short in length outside off, Overton pushes it through point for a single. 16 runs and a wicket from the over, 46/1 in the last 3!

A shade over 3 overs left. Jamie Overton walks in next, at number 8, replacing Sam Curran.

Crishan Kalugamage to Sam Curran, OUT! CAUGHT! The incorrect matchup actually works, as the leggie gets rid of the left hander. The quicker delivery, short in length, outside off, Sam Curran backs away to the leg side and looks to go over cover, but ends up hitting it straight to JJ Smuts at the edge of the circle. The 54-RUN STAND has been broken and Curran's cameo is cut short. ENGLAND ARE 159/6 AFTER 16.5 OVERS!

Crishan Kalugamage to Sam Curran, SIX! Second of this over. Floated, around middle, Sam Curran gets under this and swings this cleanly back over his head, over the sightscreen!

Crishan Kalugamage to Will Jacks, Outside off, punched towards long off for a run.

Crishan Kalugamage to Will Jacks, WIDE. Well outside off, let through.

Crishan Kalugamage to Sam Curran, Outside off, pushed down through mid off where Grant Stewart does well to keep the batters to a single at the ropes.

Crishan Kalugamage to Sam Curran, SIX! HAT-TRICK OF SIXES FOR ENGLAND! Tossed up, around middle, spinning into leg stump, Sam Curran gets low and swings it cleanly over long on! 150 IS UP FOR ENGLAND! 23 balls left.

Benjamin Manenti to Will Jacks, SIX MORE! 20 FROM THE OVER! The biggest over of the innings. And it might have gone for more but the bowler gets away with one. A high full toss, around off, Jacks swings it over mid-wicket once again. He looks at the square leg umpire but he is okay with the height. 4-0-37-1 for Benjamin Manenti.

Benjamin Manenti to Will Jacks, SIX! That's insult to injury. Maybe, if Kalugamage had stopped the previous ball cleanly, it might have still been a couple and Jacks might have still been on strike, but let's assume that it should have been just a single. Full, around off, Will Jacks gets down and swings it powerfully over mid-wicket!

Benjamin Manenti to Will Jacks, MISFIELD, FOUR! The ground fielding lets Italy down again. Benjamin Manenti is furious. Short, outside off, Jacks rocks back and punches it through the covers. Crishan Kalugamage races to his right from sweeper, puts in a slide, gets to the ball, but it escapes past his legs into the fence behind.

Benjamin Manenti to Sam Curran, On middle, worked through mid on for a run.

Benjamin Manenti to Sam Curran, UPPISH, BUT WIDE! Short and well wide outside off, would have been wided but Sam Curran gets across and throws his bat at it. Gets a thick outside edge which flies just to the left of backward point. Deep point mops it up to his right and the batters get a couple of runs.

Benjamin Manenti to Will Jacks, Full and down the leg side, Will Jacks works it through mid-wicket for a single.