On the last day of the T20 World Cup qualifiers in the ICC T20 was full of drama, the four teams still in the race to qualify. In the end, the Netherlands and Italy reserved their tickets for the T20 2026 World Cup, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka. This marks a historic moment for Italy, which qualified for the T20 World Cup for the first time. Although it has lost against the Netherlands, Italy has managed to go through the net execution rate. After marking 134/7, Italy had to ensure that the Netherlands did not continue the target too quickly, in order to maintain the required RRR. Even if the Dutch have taken a quick start thanks to Michael Levitt and Max O’Dowd, Italy managed to stretch the game until 17 – just enough to seal their place. Earlier, the Netherlands have restricted Italy well with the ball. Roelof van der Merwe was the choice of quisors, taking 3 counters for only 15 points in 4 overs. Kyle Klein also kept things tight for his side. Italy had trouble establishing major partnerships and continued to lose counters. However, a constant blow by Benjamin Mantenta and a rapid finish by Grant Stewart helped them reach 134/7. The Netherlands chased the target with ease, but Italy has also won a historic victory in the process. Meanwhile, Jersey missed qualification despite Scotland’s beat for the first time. On the last day, the qualification equations were that Jersey and Italy would qualify if the two teams won. However, if Jersey and the Netherlands won, only one from Italy and Jersey would qualify on the basis of the net race rate, with the Dutch.After the results, the president of the ICC, Jay Shah, went to X, when he wrote messages of congratulations for the parties who qualified. In a post X, he wrote: “An astonishing result for @Kncbcricket and @fedcricket, qualifying for the Male T20 World Cup ICC 2026 through qualification in Europe. For Italy, it will be their very first appearance in the tournament that India will defend early next year. Well played on the two teams!”
Jay Shah on X (image via screenbrab)
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Until now, 15 teams have qualified for the Male T20 World Cup ICC 2026. Three others will come from the qualifier Asia-East Asia-Pacific and two of the qualification in Africa.
