Italy qualified for their first ever World Cup, after finishing runners-up to the Netherlands in the T20 World Cup Qualifier European finals. The Azzurri qualification came despite a late challenge from Jersey, and at the expense of Scotland, who finished fourth.
Italy began the final day top of the table, and with their fate in their own hands. They led the standings on five points, ahead of Netherlands on four and with Scotland and Jersey on three points apiece.
Heartbreak for Scotland
The first match of the day was a de facto eliminator between Scotland and Jersey. Both needed a win, and preferably a Net Run Rate boost, to keep their hopes alive. Batting first, the Scots struggled in the power play, slipping to 26/4 inside five overs as Harrison Carylon took three wickets. Richie Berrington put up some resistance, however it was lower order cameos from Matthew Cross, Mark Watt and Chris Greaves which eventually lifted the Saltires to 133/7.
Jersey got off to a flyer in reply, thanks to Carylon and Nick Greenwood, reaching 81/1 after 11 overs and strolling to an easy victory. But Scotland fought back with a double wicket over from Chris Greaves, and the scoring rate slowed significantly. Jersey’s middle order then wilted under pressure from some tight bowling, collapsing to 129/8 at the conclusion of the 19th over. With six balls to go, the Channel Islanders still needed five runs with two wicket in hand.
Safyaan Sharif began with a dot ball, and then it took an extraordinary catch from Brandon McMullen to dismiss Ben Ward. Four runs followed off the next three balls to draw the scores level, before Jake Dunford sealed a critical victory for the islanders off the final ball. Scotland were out, Jersey were alive after a heart stopping thriller, but without the NRR boost they sorely needed.
Three way race for the World Cup
The earlier game left a three way race for two berths. But, when Italy won the toss and chose to bat first, it simplified the equation – an Italy win would secure qualification for the Azzurri and Jersey, while a Dutch win would see Netherlands through with the speed of their chase determining the runners-up. If Italy failed to win, they’d need to keep the Dutch at the crease for more that 14.2 overs to stay ahead of Jersey on NRR.
Batting remained challenging, and the Dutch took regular wickets to keep the Italian run rate in check. A total of 134/7 nevertheless looked enough to keep the Azzurri ahead on NRR with the Dutch needing to overhaul the target before 14.2 overs to eliminate Italy.
But that’s exactly how the Dutch set off in response, evoking memories of their famous Syhlet chase in 2014. Levitt, O’Dowd and Edwards made light work of the target, but only got to the target in 16.2 overs. They won by 9 wickets, sealing top spot, but 12 balls too late to save Jersey. The Azzurri had done enough!
Earlier in the week, rain had set back Scotland who lost the opportunity to build a healthy NRR against Guernsey, whilst the Italy vs Jersey clash was also washed out. Scotland nevertheless looked in control with a 9 run win over the Dutch, but a bodged chase and 12 run defeat to Italy put them in a poor position going into the final day, and Italy in the ascendancy.
The Azzurri will feature at next year’s main event in India and Sri Lanka, becoming the 25th team to make a men’s T20 World Cup. Scotland miss out for the first time since 2014.
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