T20 WC: England to take on Italy in Kolkata
What's the story
England and Italy are set to clash in a Group C match of the T20 World Cup 2026. The game will be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday (February 16). England are currently second on the table after a crucial victory over Scotland, while the fourth-placed Italy are riding high on their first-ever T20 WC win against Nepal. Here is the match preview.
Team performance
England looking for a complete performance
England's World Cup journey has been far from smooth. They were tested by Nepal and lost to West Indies, before bouncing back with a steady chase against Scotland. The victory showed signs of improvement, especially how they handled a modest target after early hiccups. However, there are still areas to tighten up, particularly at the top of the order. With qualification scenarios starting to take shape, England will be looking for a more complete performance this time around.
Team progress
Italy riding high on their historic win
Italy have shown promising signs as a team still finding its feet at this level. After a heavy loss in their opener, they bounced back by dominating Nepal for their first World Cup win. As the group tightens up, this match presents an opportunity for England to consolidate their position and for Italy to test themselves against a more established team. Notably, the two teams will meet for the first time in international cricket.
Game specifics
Eden Gardens pitch report and timing
The match will start at 3:00pm local time. So far, two 3pm games have been played at Eden Gardens, with West Indies defending 182 against Scotland and England successfully chasing 152 against the same opposition. Based on this trend, anything above 180 could be a challenging target for the second batting side. Spinners can be handy in the middle overs. Meanwhile, the match between will be broadcasted on JioStar Network Channels and live-streamed on JioHotstar (app & website).
Team line-ups
Here are the likely XIs
The Brits likely to stick with the same combination they have used in their last two matches. England probable XI: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (c), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, and Adil Rashid. Italy's probable XI: Anthony Mosca, Justin Mosca, JJ Smuts, Harry Manenti (c), Ben Manenti, Marcus Campopiano/Wayne Madsen, Grant Stewart, Gian Meade (wk), Jaspreet Singh, Crishan Kalugamage, and Ali Hasan.
PerformersÂ
Here are the key performers
In his T20 World Cup career, Adil Rashid owns a tally of 36 scalps from 33 matches at 23. In his last outing, Jos Buttler became the fastest batter to complete 4,000 T20I runs in terms of balls faced ( 2,690). With 554 runs at 42.61, Anthony Mosca is Italy's leading run-getter in T20Is. Ben Manenti took two wickets for just nine runs in his last outing against Nepal, bowling as many as 18 dot balls across four overs.