George Munsey - (Source: X.com)
On Monday, February 9, Scotland locked horns against Italy at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It is a historical day for The Azzuris as they featured in their maiden T20 World Cup match. However, the celebrations were cut short because the Scots, batting first, scored their first-ever 200 runs in the tournament’s history.
In reply, Italy got off to the worst possible start as they lost a wicket on the first ball of the chase. Notably, on the first ball, Michael Leask bowled a short-pitched delivery outside off, but opener Justin Mosca failed to capitalise on the opportunity and was denied a four after George Munsey’s brilliant effort.
Mosca played a cut shot, but Munsey dived to his right and grabbed a stunner to break Italy fans' hearts.
Italy short of a batter after captain's injury
The problems are not ending for Italy as they are already short of a batter after their captain suffered a nasty injury on field. On the 2nd ball of the 4th over, George Munsey smacked a short-pitched delivery for a four.
Meanwhile, Italy captain Wayne Madsen made a full-stretched dive at the boundary rope to stop the ball. However, the 42-year-old landed on the practice pitch and injured his shoulder. The star player was in deep pain as the physios rushed to attend to him. Eventually, it was confirmed that Italy captain has dislocated his shoulder and won't take further part in the competition.
Therefore, Italy have just nine wickets in hand and talking about the ongoing match, at the time of writing this article, Italy are in deep trouble as they are reduced to 35/2 after 3.4 overs, while chasing target of 208 runs.
Italy and Scotland had fought in the Qualifiers
It is a crucial fixture for both teams as it holds a special history, a rivalry in making. Notably, Italy and Scotland were in the finals of European T20 World Cup qualifiers, where The Azzuri beat the Scotts to qualify for the prestigious event.
However, Scotland made a great turn-around and returned to the tournament after Bangladesh were kicked out of the event following their unreasonable demand to ICC to shift World Cup matches out of India, which was rejected by the Jay Shah-led council.
George Munsey having a game to remember
George Munsey is doing nothing wrong in the ongoing match, as the southpaw troubled Italy first with his batting. The 32-year-old scored a brilliant 84 off 54 balls, which featured 13 fours and two sixes.
Munsey missed out on the opportunity to become the first batter to score a century in this edition of the T20 World Cup. Nonetheless, he is also shining in the field and took two brilliant catches to dismiss Mosca brothers.
Interestingly, after grabbing a stunner to get rid of Justin Mosca, Munsey also took Anthony Mosca's catch in a similar manner, where he dived forward and sent both openers back to the pavilion.
