Imperfect England get Italian job done

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You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 live. Here comes Overton into Bolt. Hassan bowls in. Well, there it was full straight Italy all out for 178. And there the game finishes, at least with a significant punctuation mark as the stumps are splattered. And wow. Up go the fireworks. Wasn't expecting that. That's a sight. Goodness me. England have won 24 runs. They're through to the Super 8. It wasn't entirely convincing. I'm sure the areas that England need to work and will be examined once more. But they've got through. They've won the game by 24 runs and they can head to Sri Lanka in the Super 8.

Yeah, they've achieved their goal, haven't they? But they've been unconvincing in making it out of this group. I think it's fair to say, and I'm sure on honest reflection, they'll identify areas that they have to improve if they're going to compete with the more recognized teams. I think a lot of credit goes to Italy. I think it would have been really easy for them to fade away after losing those three early wickets and to not stay in the game. But they fought and they showed a gumption and an attitude that will serve them well. This is their first tournament, their first opportunity to play on this stage, and they've done themselves proud. Every single one of them can definitely hold their heads up high. 178 runs against a international class bowling attack like England is nothing to be sniffed at. So a country in the infancy of its cricket in life, I think has bright days ahead for sure. But England, it never felt as though they were. There were moments where you thought if there's a miracle, they could lose it. But never throughout the day game did you feel as though Italy were close enough in touch. There's a passage wasn't there before. Jax had that big over in the batting innings around the the 15th over, 16th over. Ray took 25 off it and then the pressure dissipated somewhat. But certainly lots of areas to improve for England, but they have made it through, which is the bottom line.

And that was a key, wasn't it, as the players wander off the field shaking hands. The task for England was to win this game and win the game against Scotland at the weekend. They've done both of those things. Not massive margins, not massively convincing performances, but they're through. And ultimately that is, as you say, Stephen, that is the job that is required. We will be bringing you reaction imminently. Will Jax is the player of the match, by the way, having scored 53 earlier on today off 22 deliveries with the ball. Some good performances from Jamie Overton, 3 for 18, Sam Curran 3 for 22, but somewhat expensive figures for Archer, 2 for 35. Jack's very expensive 2 overs, 1 for 34 and unusually, Adil Rashid, 4 overs, 1 for 43. That said, there is the caveat that this has been the pitch that statistically has taken the least turn in the tournament anywhere so far. So it was a good track for batting in both sides, made it look that way. Once we've heard from Will Jacks who was outstanding. I want to get into a little bit, Steve, and what England need to do with the bat because there is just a little bit of a feeling perhaps that players aren't quite managing to step up. And it's not about necessarily taking responsibility, it's about seizing initiative and opportunity with the next highest score in the innings in England's innings, 30. But players time and again getting starts in the tournament and not being able to go on, which will be the frustration and the worry from England. But they have won this game, they've won it by 24 runs to qualify for the Super 8s. And I can see down there Ian Bishop preparing to chat to Will Jacks. We'll be hearing from and we'll hear from both Captains as well as as we bring you all the reaction to England's win here against an Italy side who deserve an awful lot of credit for their efforts. So to score 178 against this bowling attack is no mean feat, as you say, Finney, and big credit to them who come to this tournament as debutants. Let's hear from Will Jacks.

Yeah.

The Player of the Match award for this game goes to Will jacks for his 53 from 22. And an important wicket. Owen Morgan, former England captain, presented Will with his medal. Will, congratulations. First of all, let's talk about the half century. A number of batters above you got 20s and 30s. What was key for you going on to get a more significant score?

We've spoken about the last few games keeping our intent up. I think we've been a little bit static at times, and we understood it was a very good surface. And we know this is incredibly fast scoring ground, so you never know batting first what is enough. So that was the intent the whole way through.

And a first half century for you in T20 internationals. How do you feel?

Yeah, it feels like that's been a long time coming. There's been a few role changes in there and it's taken a while, so it's nice to get that one. I feel like I'm settling into my role down the order quite nicely now.

What were the key areas to score?

Albert, always look straight.

It's a short boundary down the ground and they were looking to hit the blockhole late. So always aim straight and adjust from there.

An important wicket for you to get as well of Ben Manenti, strategy wise. What did you do?

Yeah, well, he played unbelievably well and he was striking the ball better than any of us. Originally, I was trying to bowl full and straight and missed slightly and he was good enough to hit that, so tried to change and go wide and thankfully got that wicket. If he bagged for a few more overs, who knew what could have happened?

How much confidence do you then take into the Super 8 because England have qualified for the next round?

Yeah, well, that's the most important thing, that we've qualified. It doesn't matter how you do that. We know we need to be a lot better. Simple as that. Going to Sri Lanka now, different conditions, new opposition. We've got a lot of stuff to work on and we'll try our best.

Congratulations anyway, Will, well done.

Well, it's pretty honest that for Will Jacks, you know, stuff to work on, not at their best, but they Got through and that's all that matters. I mean, it's pretty much what you were saying.

Yeah. And the story of the group stage really, isn't it? Never once have you watched England and thought, they look like potential World Cup Championship. But, you know, if they piece it together, they can be. And they're one of the teams that can threaten right at the. At the very late stages. But, yeah, there are certainly areas to improve. A batter going on and scoring 80 plus lays the bedrock and the foundation for all of those explosive players in that long batting order to come in and put a really imposing total on the board. And then with the ball in hand, the amount of times that boundaries and sixes in particular are hit off the first or last balls of an over is also a concern going into the latter stages against teams who will be able to do that more consistently. So those are the two things that I would look upon as needing improvement. But certainly they're aware of it and they're not oblivious to the fact that they're not stood there saying, oh, we've been incredible. We've flown through the group stage. They're not kidding themselves, and they'll endeavour in the next week or so till their next game to do just that.

In terms of England's batting scorecard, saw Phil Salt again getting a start. 28 or 15. Jacob Bethel 23 off 20. Tom Banton 30 off 21. Sam Curran 25 off 19. You sometimes see it in T20 cricket, but we've seen it quite consistently in this tournament that the top order have made starts but not been able to go on.

Yeah, and. And that's something that when you've got such a long batting lineup, maybe it means that you don't really take responsibility, like, because no one's going out there saying, you know what, I'll just get 30, then get out. Everyone wants to go on and score 80 or 90, but maybe there's just that little P in the back of your mind, your subconscious mind, that says to you, oh, but there's other people down the order. We've got such a long batting lineup and will Jack save the day today? That's why he's player of the match, because of those runs that he scored down the back end. If he hadn't, then who knows what might have happened? Kind of very similar situation to what happened against Nepal there in the. In the first game of this World Cup. So certainly someone taking responsibility is something that I think the batting unit will reflect on as needing to improve going into this next Stage because there's enough experience there.

You look at Butler and again Sultan and Brook himself 14, the captain from nine balls. It's, it just feels like something for some reason isn't quite clicking.

Yeah. And it's just, it's the nature of T20 batting as well. Especially at the top of the order. You have to take risks. You have to make the most of those fielders being up inside the ring. And the fact that you've got that deep batting lineup means you can maybe be a bit freer with trying to do that. I don't know whether on reflection, Joss Butler, the two times he's got out the last two games sort of wafting at a ball, trying to flick it straight as opposed to really dominate it straight down the ground. And when he's at his absolute best, he's got that still base and it's powerful strokes down the ground and he's imposing for the bowler to bowler. So when he's working in between this game and the next one, that's something I'm sure he'll, he'll look upon because he was out literally the same way as the game before.

Today is his former worry, do you think, for England?

Not for me. You know, I mean he played 400 odd games for England. You don't, you have a, if you panic after a four match wobble, you don't play 400 odd games for England. So no, it's not at all for me. He, he will come good at some stage. He knows these conditions very well. He should be very confident and have the belief that he can, that he can make a difference in this tournament for England.

Well, Jack saying there that he's enjoying the responsibility down the order to be that finisher. 53 not out from, from 22 balls. It was a really impressive knock, that it it was.

And he's doing it really well. I'm sure he'd rather be opening the bat in, that's for sure because it's the best place to be. But with the power and the skill of the players at the top of the order, there's no room for him. So as any player does as, as I would have done if Andrew Strauss had said to me, you play the test tomorrow, but I want you to bowl left arm spin, you, you would try and do that. So he's trying to figure out a way and he's having to learn on the job in international cricket about batting at number seven. And he's done it excellently in two of the three games that England have won. He's been a huge difference between the two teams.

Yeah. And it is that power. And sometimes it's easy to think, oh, well, the, the extra power down the order. It's given, you know, too much license to those at the top to not take responsibility. But it should be seen as a positive that England bats od.

Absolutely. Yeah. It's. It's certainly a good thing. And you do need different people to put their hands up throughout an international tournament like that. This. It can't just be the same players all the time who are scoring the runs or taking the wickets. So. So certainly for him to have done it in this tournament and not to have been a name in vogue coming into it is a good thing.

What about the bowling, Stephen? Because Italy, you know, they got some big scores in there. Ben Manenti 60 off 25 and Will Jack got his wicket, but it was an over that, I think it's fair to say, had England panicking briefly because I was just downstairs walking around the ground. But it was drama personified. Right here, two captains.

Congratulations to England on their progression to the Super 8 phase of this tournament. Harry Manenti, the Italy captain, is here with me. Harry, commiserations. And we all mean that it was a spirited performance at the top. In the field, where did you feel 202 was at the halfway stage?

Yeah, I think we always knew that England were going to come hard and that's the way they play their cricket. And it's entertaining. But we knew if we could try and take wickets throughout the start of that game, we're always in it for the middle and the back end.

And you did take wickets. A number of guys in that top order were getting 20s, 30s, etc. And it wasn't until Will Jacks got a half century that there was a score of significance. What was the challenge there? Bowling to Will at the back end?

Yeah, I think he batted excellently and showed that when you take it deep, when you got that power in their lineup, that anything can happen really. But, you know, we were trying to do our best on a smallish field and a good wicket against a really good line up to try and minimise their total where we could. And we knew that wickets up the front end would hopefully do that. As you can see, 200 wasn't that far above par today, but yeah, we probably let them get a few too many, which hurt us in the chase.

And in that chase, Mosca J. And your brother again with a half century, as he did against Scotland, kept you in it.

Yeah. That was some impressive hitting. We lost a few early and for him to come out and just strike the ball from the get go really put pressure on the England and you can see that towards the back end. Grant Stewart did the same thing when he came out and it showed that when you get a little partnership together and put some pressure on that, anything can happen.

Throughout this ICC Men's T20 World cup we're seeing a number of the associates, including yourself, and it's not being disparaging by any means. You're getting to those positions, but that final kick just isn't coming. Can you put your finger on why that might be?

Yeah, I think a lot of the associate nations really put some pressure on some big nations and that's really exciting from the games point of view. I think we're one of those teams who today we put some pressure on England and we had no right to really. Against Nepal we played a really good game of cricket as well. So I think that's, it's impressive across the competition that that's happening. Good for the game, especially with 20 teams in the competition. But I think it's just a matter of games under our belt in those situations against class opposition. You know, one of the top ranked teams in the world. For us who are ranked 27th, to be coming out here and putting pressure on them is something that we should take. Great, you know, belief in that we can keep doing that moving forward.

There's a little bit of emotion that you can't hide from the cameras. When Ben was dismissed, we had a shot of you at the back of the group there and the disappointment was palpable. What were your emotions like at that stage?

Firstly, I was proud of him. I've seen how hard he works, especially on his batting as well, which probably doesn't get as much of a look in. And tonight he got an opportunity to show the world how good he is with the bat. I thought he bowled really good first few overs. He got a bit of a tap in that last one, but that's T20 cricket. But it was one of the big components of why we were in this game tonight. And you know, the same thing with Grant Stewart at the end. Like he's a lower order batter usually in Kent in the county system. And for him to come out tonight and show what he's capable of doing is proud for me as a captain and player of Italy cricket. So hopefully we continue to get these opportunities to show how good some of our players are on the world stage.

One more to Go. One more opportunity to go. How much are you looking forward to that game against the West Indies?

Yeah, we've got nothing to lose. We came in today thinking the same thing. For a lot of players, it was probably their biggest game they've ever played in their careers and for some, the biggest game they'll ever play. So we've got another opportunity against a really strong West Indies side who have shown their. Their power and their ability. And it's, you know, up to us to try and go and compete again and really push them to the limits. And I think that's our aim across the whole competition.

It's been enjoying watching you. All the best in that last game and thank you very much for your time.

Thanks, Aaron. Cheers.

Thank you very much. To Italy's captain, Harry Manenti. Harry Brook. The other Harry is here. Harry Qualifications Seal to the Super 8. Given the way things have turned out, how do you feel?

We haven't played our best cricket, but at the end of the day we've made it through and we're heading to Sri Lanka, so we can be happy about that.

202. A number of batters, including yourself above Will Jax either got starts or didn't get any. Is there a reason for that?

Yeah, it's been a little bit of a trend so far in this competition. We haven't managed to string along the scores that we'd like to do as a batting unit, but that's part of T20 cricket. It's a fickle game. One day you can smack a hundred and the next day you can get out first ball. So we just got to keep on being brave and taking our options on and bowling.

And I suppose the performance in the field would be what. How do you sum it up?

Yeah, I thought we fielded excellently. We bowled nicely as well and I never really had any doubt there at the end with Sam and Jamie Overton to bowl the last couple of overs.

How good was Sam?

Yeah, he was awesome. He has been throughout this comp so far and we've managed to scrape through. But along there there's been some good performances, especially from him and Will Jax, who stepped up when we've been in tricky situations. So that's really good to see.

It was noticeable. Joffre has gotten better and better. For example, you gave him sort of like three up top and then one at the back end. What's the. I suppose the thinking behind that, the way that you've used him?

Well, he was on a little bit of a heater and when. When Joff's on a heater. You want to try and get as much out of him as possible and, and try and put a real big dent into the opposition. And he did that today with his first couple of overs.

As we say, congratulations on getting through to the Super 8. You were in Sri Lanka before tournament started. You're going to return there. Is there any way that you. You operate in Sri Lanka that you've picked up from the series before?

We've obviously played there before. We had a couple of weeks there, so we know what the conditions are like and we just got to go back and do what we were doing whilst we were there, which is adapting. But like I said there a minute ago is make sure we're being brave with the bat especially. You've only got 20 overs to bat and you've got to try and get as many runs as possible. And that's probably been our little downfall in this group stage so far, is we've. We haven't quite been brave enough and taken on our options as much as we could.

Hope you at your peak at the right time. As you said, you've still got room ahead of you. Thank you very much for your time, Harry.

Cheers.

Thoughts of the two captains chatting to Ian Bishop. So Harry Brook acknowledging England, not perfect. And there was that moment, Steve, we'll get on to Italy in just, just a second. But there was that moment in the 12th over where Ben man hit 4, 6, 6, 4, 4, and then was caught by Tom Banson in the deep 60 off 25. And there was just a little moment, wasn't there? The crowd were up and about.

Yeah, the crowd were up and about and you could see when the ball's disappearing all over the place. In T20 cricket, as a bowler in particular, your mind can be going a thousand miles an hour and you just need to try and stay calm, think about what your plan's going to be and execute it. And. And after those, the first four deliveries of that over, I think it was, he changed his plan to go around the wicket and try and bowl wide. And that was the correct option. And that was in consultation with Harry Brook, who grabbed the ball, walked over to Will Jackson, said, let's change this plan. Let's not just bowl in six balls from outside, off from over the wicket for him to wallop away. So although a couple of those jacks was trying to go quick and straight, but Manenti was one step ahead. So, yeah, good, good to slow the game down in that moment, but certainly when that ball was Disappearing. England would have thought, no, we, we don't need this.

Yeah, there was just a sense around the ground that something could be, could be about to happen quite dramatically. So. But, but England do win by 24 runs. But yeah, you have to say Italy, World cup debut, 178 all out against an England side is, Is a really spectacular effort.

Yeah, it is. And, and actually the, I think the bit where they were most in the game, because I think chasing that total, they had to keep going for it and that freed them up and, and that partnership was brilliant, where they had England on the back foot and is certainly a sign of what they can do. What Italy would be most disappointed with is the position that they had England in. After 15 overs, 124 for 5, you're there thinking, well, one or two wickets even here on this, means England then only end up getting 175 and, and that is less than what Italy ended up getting themselves. So there was a moment, wasn't there, Ms. Field at deep cover off the bowling of Manenti, I think it was, that then led to two sixes being hit the next two balls, which just felt like a massive shift in momentum. So if there was one minute of the game that Italy could go back to, to change to, to take a second to reassess and reset, I think it would be that one, because that got wheeljacks off running meant that he got the finish that he did. But Italy should be really, really proud about what, about what they've done there. And like we've parroted a number of times throughout this tournament. It can only be good that these teams are getting the opportunity to show that they can compete with the big boys.

Let's get some more reaction from the England camp then. Sam Curran bowled really beautifully once again for England. Three overs, 3 for 22, with the bat 25 off 19. And he's been speaking to Adam Mountford.

Well, some England threw to the Super 8s, but again, that was a testing game for them.

Yeah, it was still not getting our full performance right, but I guess, yeah, we've got the job done now and we got a few days to reflect on this kind of last group stage. We've learned a lot, I guess, but now, I guess this is our first step and let's go again.

Is there anything you put it down to the fact that you're not perhaps as convincing in these victories against the. These, let's say, smaller teams than perhaps you'd like to be?

Yeah, I guess there's loads of different things I actually think you look at that kind of group and these type of grounds as well and the way the guys are striking it. I thought guys like Manenti and their opening battle played really well and they struck the ball really well and I guess the wicket was a really good wicket. I guess it's actually just a tricky stage in a World Cup. You're nervous, you got all kinds of nerves and the expectation and I guess, yeah, but, but at the end we can smile and I guess now we head to Sri Lanka and hopefully get a full performance in.

Is there a danger of being too tentative because of the worry about not doing well against a team England are expected to beat?

Yeah, of course there is. I think there's nerves and that's normal. We've spoken about that and I guess that's why we batted first a little bit today. We tried to put runs on the board and we started really well at the ball. But Italy came back fighting and kept striking the ball really well. Fantastic ground this place to bat as well, I guess. Yeah, I think now we've got our first step and now we know we come up against the top teams and hopefully we come all guns blazing and we fire.

Important contribution from yourself with bat and ball. Let's talk about the bat first. You and Will Jax. That was a significant partnership because England were 104 for 5 at that stage.

Yeah, we were obviously same type of situation back with Jax here. Lottie came in with real nice intent. We kind of worked around 180 the whole way and naturally the way he was striking it and Jamie O came in a nice couple of hits and yeah, we bat well together. It was a little consolidation period and get ourselves in and then we had some nice hits towards the end, but yeah, another nervy game in the end.

But you must enjoy the all round nature of what you're able to achieve in this England team since you come back into the side.

Yeah, it's been pleasing. Baz has given me that full belief and confidence in the roles I'm doing and I think I've come back in with a little bit of a different mentality in terms of just the way of playing for England. Kind of bring that attitude I've got with my 100 teams and Surrey and I guess just kind of enjoy it and have that smile on my face again and get in the competitive battle. So you've seen the last couple of games where I guess the pressure's on and it gets competitive. I'm just thinking, well, if I don't do it. I don't do it. But most of the time, if you believe in yourself, you can get there.

Let's talk about the bowling effort. As you say, you got over 200. You must have been very confident at the halfway stage and then you get the early wickets as well. So, you know, that must have been a good place for him to be at that stage.

Yeah. Good score. I thought we probably were really. We would have taken that. But I think that's the hard thing about this format and we play on really small grounds. I think the conditions in Sri Lanka will be slightly different, which is another challenge. But I guess it's just more the adjusting. Joff felt beautifully. The first couple overs nice and fast got them one foot two. So that always dense in their chase. But yeah, the way Harry Manente boys came out and played was put a lot of pressure on us. And clean striking. Grant Stewart plays a lot of county cricket against us and clean strikers of the ball. So we never take anyone lightly. And they challenged us and thankfully we got over the line.

And you bowled another very important over against Nepal. It was the final over, it was the 19th. There wicket's keeping the runs down because they were in with a chance at the start of the over.

Yeah, of course. And kind of I was watching again, you're watching the field, you plan your over and I guess it just comes down to a little bit of execution. Calcutta is probably one of the toughest places to bowl. I think it's so small. You see their strikes quite effortlessly. Guys hitting sixes. So yeah, it was nice. We're just pleased to get over the line and I think we got a few days now to head to Sri Lanka and plan for whoever is going.

To be in our group, obviously, as you say, onto the Super 8s. And I'm sure that look, every player wants to find form, but unusual to see with like Phil Salt and Joss Butler not quite hitting their straps at the top of the order. They'll be looking to change that round when it comes to Super 8s, of course.

Yeah, we've got such a high quality top order, middle order as well, and that's the best thing. Everyone's standing up a little bit at different stages and like I said, we're a little bit off from our perfect game. So hopefully guys like Salty, Joss, Rookie and Beth and myself, we can all come off and get those big scores. And I guess, yeah, that's the exciting part. We've had a little chat with Morgz before the toss and Nakalo said, these are the hardest games because we want to get there so badly. And now we've done it. Now it's kind of like enjoying it. This is our first aim and now we focus on the teams that we know will be in our group and.

You know what it's like to win this tournament. You're a player of the series. When England Last won the T20, are you having that message across the other players, perhaps newer to the team, to say, look, we're in the Super 8s now. Anything can happen?

Well, I think that'll probably be the chat today after this game. We've kind of got that first hurdle down. We definitely have been not fully at our best, but I guess, like I said, you can look at that in a positive. We come off and we've been to Sri Lanka recently as well. So that was fantastic for us to be there playing in, I guess, Kandy, where we played a lot of cricket as well recently. So I think we're really well prepared and hopefully we know that we've got over the small law hurdle. We've been challenged and now we can go out there and hopefully make the England fans proud.

Well played today.

Cheers. Thank you.

Thoughts? There are Sam Curran chatting to Adam Mountford, Stephen Finn before we say goodbye by. It's interesting, isn't it, hearing that repeated message that the challenge of playing sides that you never really face and bowlers, batters that you never get the opportunity to. To come up against when you're so expected to win.

Yeah. And it's that. But pressure that can weigh down on teams quite heavily, can't it? Especially when you're out there in the middle making your decisions. You don't want that little man on your shoulder saying, well, you should be winning this. You. It takes away your concentration from. From what you're trying to execute in that very finite moments. So. So yeah, Ignall will be relieved, I think, to have made it through the group stage. They've been pushed harder than they'd have liked, but they've showed steel and determination in those moments to get through and come out on the right side of those results that maybe in the past other England teams wouldn't have done. So I think that bodes well for them. But I think everyone has repeatedly said the same message, including us up here, that they. They need to improve and tidy up those areas of their games that we highlighted earlier in order to compete towards the back end of this tournament. But given their recent history in Sri Lanka and the way that they won that T20 and One Day International series there in recent times, I think that stands them in good stead.

And I think it's fair to say that we could also see the enjoyment that Italy had in being out there on the biggest stage, getting the opportunity to play against some of the world's best. And they took the chance in the main as well. Manenti 60 off 25, Stewart's 45 off 20. But also Justin Mosca at the top of the order, 43 of 34 deliveries and he's been also speaking to Adam Mountford.

Justin, well played personally and well played Italy. You took him pretty close there.

Yeah, thanks for that. I mean, probably a bit raw at the moment. Yeah. As a team that only plays 18 T20s in a calendar year, we definitely did take them close, but I thought we could get there in the end. Not to, but yeah, it's a good game of cricket.

Where do you think you just fell short?

There's probably a few areas like we probably led a few runs through in the field and then I probably got out at the wrong time of the game there when we just got a partnership and probably just got ahead of the game. So that probably hurt us. But all in all, I couldn't be more proud of a group that's coming in. We had the aim to take it to the English side who were a very good team. And I think the boys can hold their head up high at the end of that.

And the fact that they got over 200, you lost a couple early wickets. The fact you ended up 24 runs short was an impressive turnaround.

Yeah, we had that belief in the boys that there's 11 blokes that can get the job done from anywhere in the game. I think we showed that today, although we didn't get the result. I think that just instils a little bit more belief in this group moving forward as to what we can do in big games. That's what happens to big teams. Take those moments. And we probably just missed the beat here today. But now it's a hell of an effort from the Italian boys.

And after the 124 run partnership in the last game with your brother, the fact he went early was a bit of a blow. Can't always come off. But the fact you kept going was great from a personal point of view.

Yeah, we had to quickly move on from the last game and that's part of cricket. One day you're up and about and the next day doesn't go your way. It probably took me a while to get going too. Couldn't see the ball there from a bit, but no, it was. I was just happy to play my part and I think a lot of the pressure was taken off by that innings Benny played. That was an incredible innings batting display from. From an excellent cricketer. And he drags back in the game there, Benny. And that made my life a hell of a lot easier, as did Grant in that middle part there.

Let's talk about the bowling effort, because you had them five down at one stage for just over 100 runs and at that stage you were really restricting England confidence must have been very high in the field.

Yeah, absolutely. I actually thought we bowled really well. Like that was a pretty, really good wicket. They're a really strong batting side. We knew they were going to keep taking it to us for the full 20 overs, which they did. But our boys, it was awesome to see the composure they had and they tried to execute ball after ball. We made a goal as a team that even if we get hit for one or two early in the over, the next ball, if we take a wick, it could change the game and we've done that throughout. We probably let ourselves down a little bit in the field, I reckon, and not support our bowlers. But it was an incredible effort by our boys to take on that side and to take it to him. I'm super proud of the bowling unit.

It was awesome because you must overall, although you're obviously disappointed now, when you step back in a few days, you'll look and think you took double World champions England pretty close in a World cup game. And what you've done for Italian cricket, showing what you can do, will go down a long way, won't it?

Yeah, you're spot on there. Like emotions rawing. I think when you're playing any sport, your competitive instincts take over. So when you lose, it's always going to be raw. It doesn't matter the situation. But as you said, when we reflect on the three games we've had so far, because we've still got one more, I think we're going to be able to sit there and be very proud of what we have done so far, especially to bounce back after that first game, we're well below our best to bounce back and to put on these two performances. We can definitely hold our heads up high and and show that Italian cricket are here to stay and we've got a lot to offer to this group.

What are you looking to achieve in the final game? Obviously win, but what else are you looking for?

Yeah, to be honest, like you said that it's pretty simple look to win. But I think our goal as a nation and as a very new cricketing nation, it's just to keep putting these good performances on the board, just to show that we're not just one hit wonders and we're not here to fill gaps. We can compete, compete. And again, we're going to have the same attitude with the West Indies as we did to the English and that's to take it to them and hopefully take it deep and with a bit of luck, the result goes our way. And if not, we'll reflect and enjoy every moment of this because we are very fortunate, very lucky to be a part of it. And hopefully we're setting something up for the future of Italian cricket.

And in terms of stories, I don't know if you know, but Andrew Bocelli sent you a good luck message before this match. You know, he's a worldwide opera star and he's getting involved in Italian cricket and you've had as you met the footballers, you're growing your hair to look like one of the Italian footballers. The story's brilliant overall, isn't it?

Yeah, mate. And that's another one I think we'll be able to reflect on at the end of the tournament. And I didn't know Bocelli sent us that. Good luck messengers. And that's second to none that because he's the theme of our bus ride. We sing that song loud and proud with him and Ed Sheeran. So that's awesome. And like you said, will reflect on this and just be so privileged to be noticed by those people and just to be part of the whole experience and be a part of history. Really well played. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Well, the thoughts there of Justin Mosca of Italy, who end up losing the game, but have certainly won the hearts of plenty of supporters here in Calcutta, thanks to some fabulous cricket that they've played over the course of of not just this game but in the last couple of weeks as well. They still have the opportunity to lay down another marker. They take on West Indies later on in the week, but we are heading towards the end of the group stages. England through to the Super Eights, their first match of three in the space of six days at Palakeli on Sunday. That's the 9:30 UK time game. Then on Tuesday at 1:30 and Friday at 1:30, that second game, Palakele, the third one in Colombo, we wait to see who their opponents will be. Thank you so much for listening. To the Test Match Special podcast. Don't forget to subscribe on BBC Sounds to make sure you do not miss a thing. From here in Calcutta at Eden Gardens, it's goodbye and thank you for listening the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 live.

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