Forde’s new-ball exploits back up Hope’s 75 as Windies win out in Group C
West Indies 165 for 5 (Hope 75, Rutherford 24*; Kalugamage 2-25) beat Italy 123 all out (Manenti 26, Smuts 24; Forde 3-19) by 42 runs
The West Indies finished atop Group C of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with a perfect four wins from four following a 42-run victory over Italy at Eden Gardens on Thursday, their fourth on the trot. A captain’s knock from Shai Hope propelled the Caribbean side to a defendable total ahead of a tone-setting new-ball spell from Matthew Forde.
West Indies lost the wickets of Brandon King and Shimron Hetmyer early in their innings. Ali Hasan ended King's six-ball stay, continuing his sluggish tournament. The right-hander feathered an inside edge through to the keeper for 4 in the second over. Hetmyer (1) was then caught at short third off a flying edge to begin the 5th with West Indies 31 for 2. At the other end, Shai Hope had picked up where he left off against Nepal, timing the ball all around the ground.
He was joined by Roston Chase, and the two shared in a 64-run stand (50 balls) for the third wicket. Chase stuttered his way to 24 off 25 before he was caught in the deep trying to accelerate in the 13th, leaving the West Indies 95 for 3.
Chase’s wicket was the first of three the West Indies lost in a 17-ball period where they scored 20 runs, after Rovman Powell was dismissed for a run-a-ball 9, followed by Hope, who fell for an innings-shaping 46-ball 75.
