ICC Men’s T20 WC 2026 | Match 37: West Indies vs Italy | Preview and Predictions

West Indies will take on Italy in match 37 at the Eden Gardens on 19th February 2026. 

Here, we present our preview and predictions for Match no. 37 between West Indies and Italy

ICC Men’s T20 WC 2026 Group C | Match 37: West Indies vs Italy | 11:00 IST, February 19, 2026

The West Indies have been the team to beat in Group C of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with Shai Hope’s men registering comprehensive wins against Scotland, England and Nepal enroute to their final Group C fixture. 

In the batting department, Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford lead the runscoring chart with 133 and 102 runs respectively while skipper Shai Hope also got amongst the runs with a well compiled unbeaten knock of 61 off 44 deliveries against Nepal. The rest of the batters haven’t had much time in the middle yet and that is something they’d look into heading to the Super 8 stages.

That said, their bowlers have done a pretty good job so far with everyone chipping in with solid contributions. Romario Shepherd took a 5-fer against Scotland while Jason Holder was the Man of the Match against Nepal for 4-17. The likes of Shamar Joseph and Gukadesh Motie have also been amongst the wickets with the likes of Matthew Forde and Jayden Seales sitting as a backup. Giving their bowling unit a much better outlook than what was perceived before the tournament started. 

As for their opponents, after a disappointing start to the campaign having suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Scotland, Italy roared back in fine form against Nepal with a dominant 10-wicket victory. However, they fell short against England, making it impossible for them to make it to the Super 8. 

In the batting department, everyone has chipped in in some way. However, Ben Manenti and Justin Mosca are the only two batters to have crossed the 100-run mark so far. The likes of Anthony Mosca, skipper Harry Manenti and Grant Stewart have also contributed with decent knocks, but the lack of consistent performances has led them down a few times in their debut campaign. 

The bowling department has also done reasonably well considering this is their first ever outing at an ICC event. Crishan Kalugamage leads the chart with five wickets while Ben Manenti, Ali Khan, Grant Stewart and JJ Smuts all share three wickets each. 

In terms of weather forecast and pitch report, expect conditions to be clear throughout the game. As evident from the four games played here at this venue so far, teams batting first have won three out of the four games while scores around 180-200 have been difficult to chase down. With this being another day game, expect the team winning the toss to bat first and put up a decent score. 

Looking ahead to this fixture, the Windies are high on confidence having won all three group stage fixtures so far and already securing their passage to the playoffs, giving the advantage of resting a few key personnel ahead of the Super 8 stages. The Italians on the other hand have given a very good account of themselves and should be proud of what they’ve achieved in their first ever ICC tournament. However, considering the strength of both squads, despite WI looking to make some changes ahead of this encounter, we’re backing them to go unbeaten in the group stages. 

Fantasy XI: Brandon King, Anthony Mosca, Shai Hope (vc), Shimron Hetmyer (c), Harry Manenti, Jason Holder, Ben Manenti, Matthew Forde, Grant Stewart, Gudakesh Motie, Crishan Kalugamage 

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata 

Winners Prediction: West Indies