The Mosca brothers, Anthony and Justin, then came out and romped to the target in 12.4 overs without losing a wicket. It was an all-round, polished performance by Italy, of a team that’s consistently punched above their weight.
“At the moment we’re ranked 27th in the world, hopefully that’s changed today, but we’re ranked 27th in the world in a competition of 20 teams,” said the Italian captain, who was ushered into the hot seat after Italy lost their skipper Wayne Madsen in the opening game to a dislocated shoulder.
“If you do the maths, we’re outsiders every time we play, no matter who we play against, whether it’s Nepal or Scotland or England or West Indies. We’ll always be the outsiders, which we thrive on and we love, but we’re not wanting to stay there at 27th, we’re wanting to climb up.
“By doing that we need to play games, we want other teams to host us and we build facilities that host them back. That’s our goal as a team, that will provide opportunities for kids who are currently in Italy, learning the game at a school level, to see us playing in Rome or Milan or Bologna or wherever it might be, to see what the pathway is and to see Harry Menenti or Anthony Mosca or Krushan, whoever it might be, to be playing at the World Cup. If that’s the goal for them, then we’ve created a pathway for them to follow.”
Manenti and his team is laying the groundwork for a cricket revolution, the Italian way.
