John Davison, head coach of Italy, has a clear belief about T20 cricket. During the team’s pre-match conference at DY Patil Cricket Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, Davison said that if a couple of players shine, any team can win on any given day.

And that was exactly what happened when Italy played Nepal at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. On the back of a tight bowling attack and steller performances by brothers Anthony Mosca and Justin Mosca, Italy crushed Nepal by 10 wickets to claim their first T20 World Cup win.

It was Nepal’s worst-ever defeat in T20Is.

Invited to bat first, Nepal were off to a shaky start. They could collect only a run in the first over and lost the wicket of Kushal Bhurtel in the second over. Bhurtel, who had scored a quickfire 17-ball 29 against England, was ineffective against Italy, getting caught out scoring 5 runs off 10.

Nepal lost their second in the form of skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel (23 off 14) at the end of the seventh over. Nepal were then at 49 runs.

At 49, Nepal lost another wicket as Aasif Sheikh (20 off 20) got stumped out in 7.2 overs. Dipendra Singh Airee and Aarif Sheikh held their nerves for some time after that. When Airee (17 off 18) was bowled out in 13.5 overs, Nepal were at 93.

The wickets kept tumbling from there on and Nepal were bundled out at 123 runs in 19.3 overs.

Nepal’s captain and vice-captain were both the victims of Crishan Kalugamage, whose third wicket was Gulshan Kumar Jha. With three wickets in four overs while giving away only 18 runs, Kalugamage was adjudged the player of the match later.

And there were praises for Kalugamage in the post-match press conference as well. “Crishan is an example of our team,” said Harry Menanti, the skipper in place of Wayne Maidsen, who did not play against Nepal due to an injury against Scotland.

Harry informed that Crishan was not a full-time cricketer. “Crishan does a day job to get his pay check,” said Harry. “12 out of the 15 players in our squad do other jobs to survive.”

But despite being part-time cricketers, Italy’s squad is filled with players who have had good prior experience in the game.

JJ Smuts was part of South Africa’s U19 and ‘A’ teams, while Harry and his brother Ben Manenti played in the Big Bash League in Australia.

Harry and Davison faced several questions regarding heritage players in the Italian squad. In response, Harry said, “My grandfather came to Australia. And several players have their connection with Italy.”

Harry also informed that his family had sent messages when he returned to the dressing room after the win. He was also busy receiving phone calls after the end of the post-match conference.

“We feel privileged to represent Italy and play in the World Cup. There are many cricketers in the world and only a few have this privilege,” said Harry. “And our parents are happy that we are here and playing a good brand of cricket.”

Harry also believes that this team will take Italy up the ranks in international cricket, “and this performance will help change the situation of cricket back home.”

Alongside Harry and Ben, there is another set of brothers in Italy’s World Cup squad: the Mosca brothers.

And it was the Mosca brothers—Justin Mosca and Anthony Mosca—who handed Nepal the 10-wicket defeat.

Justin and Anthony opened for Italy, and chased down 124 in 12.4 overs. Justin (60 off 44) smashed five fours and three sixes, while Anthony (62 off 32) hammered three fours and six sixes.

“It was not our day,” Nepal’s spinner Sandeep Lamichhane said after the loss.

Similarly, Aarif Sheikh said that the team was unable to utilise the conditions of Wankhede like Italy.

“It was a 180-run wicket. But we lost wickets in the powerplay and middle overs and could not make a comeback from it by the end,” said Aarif. “Coach had told us to play our natural game. We tried, but we were not up to the mark. Italy were better today.”

Nepal’s 123 runs total against Italy was the second-lowest T20I total at Wankhede.

Meanwhile, Lamichhane said that they could not fulfill their roles properly.

“I also need to take the blame because I also could not bowl in the areas I needed to,” Lamichhane said. “But we will bounce back.”

It is Nepal’s second loss of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. They lost by four runs to England on Sunday.

But while thousands of Nepali fans did not leave Wankhede with disappointment despite the loss against England, it was not the case on Thursday. The reason: Nepal were the favourites against Italy.

“It is always enjoyable to see the favourites put under pressure,” said Davison. “We will look at Nepal’s game against England and try to take our game up against England and the West Indies as well.”

Nepal’s hope for Super 8 now hangs by a tiny thread as they are at the bottom without a point. They now face two-time T20 World Cup champions, the West Indies, on Sunday, and Scotland on Tuesday.

“We have played a good brand of cricket for the past couple of years, and we will do the same against the West Indies,” said Lamichhane. “And regarding the fans, we thank you for your support. And we hope to not let you all down.”