England vs Italy LIVE: ICC T20 World Cup 2026

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Phil Salt and Jos Buttler will open the batting for England and they'll hope to give their side a good launch here.

Left-arm spinner JJ Smuts, a former South Africa international, have the ball in hand for Italy.

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It's a delightful afternoon in Kolkata and the teams have lined up at the Eden Gardens for the national anthems.

Having playing their first two games at the T20 World Cup in Mumbai, this is the second time England will play in Kolkata.

And with a good batting surface expected today, they’ll be keen to make full use of it.

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Steven Finn

Former England fast bowler on BBC Test Match Special

Italy played well against Nepal to win by 10 wickets, and that was a bit of a shock given how Nepal pushed England in that first game. It will be fascinating, but England should be winning this game.

When you're one of the major teams playing against a team like Italy, there are a lot of unknowns. England will have to do a lot of problem-solving on the spot today.

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Tom Banton was England's hero in their crucial win against Scotland last time out - with a breakout innings of 63 not out to take his side to a five-wicket victory.

It is coming up to seven years since the England batter first caught the eye as a 19-year-old by hitting a stunning 71 from 37 balls to help Somerset chase 204 against Surrey in the T20 Blast.

He has failed to nail down a permanent spot in the England squad since but will hope to do just that now by building on that match-winning knock, this time without the pressure of a run chase.

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Life has taken a remarkable turn for the Mosca brothers in the past few weeks.

After messages of good luck from football legends Andrea Pirlo and Christian Vieri beforehand, Anthony and Justin are grabbing the headlines for Italy at their first T20 World Cup.

They also bumped into Mario Balotelli and Paolo Maldini at the airport during their warm-up to the tournament, with Justin currently growing his hair to resemble the great Maldini's lustrous locks.

You can read more about the Mosca brothers in Henry Moeran's piece on the BBC Sport website and app.

'Coming off the win gives us confidence'

Italy captain Harry Manenti: "We were tossing and turning which way we wanted to go and I didn't have to make a choice in the end. Hopefully, it works out nicely for us.

"The vibes have been excellent. Everyone has bene up and about. We had few nice days after the win to settle back down.

"It's a massive game against England but coming off the win gives us confidence. We came into the tournament pretty confident but didn't do the way we wanted to against Scotland. But we are calm going into this game."

'We have managed to scrape through in games'

England captain Harry Brook: "We'll have a bat. Today we feel that is the right decision. There's not much in it stat wise, so we feel like having a bat today.

"I think going out with the bat, looking to be fearless. Looking at putting them under pressure and thinking about the result rather than the risk.

"Same team.

"I think everyone knows we haven't [had the best performances], but we have managed to scrape through in a couple of games, which has been vital."

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But Italy come into this game with their spirits high.

They dominated with both bat and ball as they claimed their first-ever T20 World Cup victory with a stunning 10-wicket win over Nepal last Thursday.

After losing their opener to Scotland, Italy looked a completely different side at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

After a slow and conservative Nepal limped to 123 all out, brothers Justin Mosca and Anthony Mosca wasted no time making inroads into Italy's chase.

They smashed 68 runs off their first six overs and racked up 97 after 10 and hit their way to unbeaten half-centuries as Italy reached their target with 7.2 overs to spare.

We will bring you the news from the middle very shortly...

Hello and welcome!

Time to seal that Super 8s spot then?

England can progress to the next stage of this T20 World Cup if they beat Italy here but they arrive in the contest yet to produce a calm, convincing performance in the tournament.

They’ve scraped past Nepal, been dismantled by West Indies, and edged nervously over the line against Scotland last time, so this could be the chance to steady the ship.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of this must-win game for England.

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