T20 World Cup debutants Italy face Scotland in Kolkata: Preview
What's the story
Scotland are gearing up to take on Italy in Match 7 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. The match, which is scheduled to take place on February 9 at Kolkata's Eden Gardens, marks Italy's debut in an ICC main-event tournament. Meanwhile, Scotland qualified as the highest-ranked ICC member nation after Bangladesh withdrew from the tournament. Here is the match preview.
Details
A look at the pitch report
The track at the Eden Gardens is generally excellent for batting, with a fast outfield that favors run scoring. Spinners can also gain from the conditions as the match progresses. Dew goes out of the equation as the game will kick-start at 11:00am IST. One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network and stream it on the JioHotstar app/website.
Team composition
Italy's squad for the tourney
The Italian team is led by 42-year-old Wayne Madsen, a former South African hockey international. He will be supported by JJ Smuts, who brings both power and experience to the squad. Ben Manenti, after an impressive BBL season with Sydney Sixers, joins the team along with his brother Harry. The Mosca brothers - Justin and Anthony - are expected to open the batting while Thomas Draca could be an X-factor for Italy in this tournament.
Match preview
Scotland aim to bounce back after West Indies defeat
Scotland, who lost to West Indies on the opening day, will be looking to bounce back against Italy. The team is familiar with Eden Gardens but will be without former captain Joe Burns and batter Emilio Gay for this match. Despite these changes, they remain a strong side in the tournament.
Qualification details
Italy's journey to the T20 World Cup
Italy are the 25th team to qualify for the T20 World Cup. They earned their spot by finishing second in the Europe qualifier, behind the Netherlands. The two teams have faced each other twice in T20Is with a win apiece. Scotland won by 155 runs in 2023 while Italy emerged victorious by 12 runs in 2025.
XIs
Here are the probable playing XIs
Scotland (Probable XI): George Munsey, Matthew Cross (wk), Brandon McMullen, Richie Berrington (c), Tom Bruce, Michael Leask, Mark Watt, Chris Greaves, Safyaan Sharif, Bradley Currie, and Bradley Wheal. Italy (Probable XI): Justin Mosca, Anthony Mosca, JJ Smuts, Wayne Madsen (c), Harry Manenti, Ben Manenti, Gian-Piero Meade (wk), Grant Stewart, Jaspreet Singh, Ali Hasan, Crishan Kalugamage.
Performers
Here are the key performers
Brad Currie was solid and clocked 2/23 from his 4 overs in Scotland's opener against WI. Richie Berrington scored 42 off 24 balls in the game. He now owns 2,377 T20I runs at 31.27. With 479 runs at 39.91, Anthony Mosca is Italy's highest run-scorer in the T20I format. Harry Manenti has taken the most wickets for them - 34 at 13.29.