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After Italy registered a historic 10-wicket win over Nepal in the T20 World Cup, Crishan Kalugamage expressed gratitude to his family and his countrymen, saying it was a "massive moment" for him.
Speaking after the match, Kalugamage, who won the Player of the Match, shared his feelings. "Thank you so much to all the crowd and all my teammates, and I'm really happy about the win. I always, always, always want to help the team win the match and do my best for my nation, Italy. So I'm happy. I also worked hard with my coaching staff, and I'm really happy with my line and length; I took three wickets. So a massive moment for me after so many sacrifices. Thank my family and all the Italians," he said, as quoted by Cricbuzz. Kalugamage also shared a heartfelt message for his teammates and fans, saying, "They look in the match and all my teammates always. This is my brother and the coaching staff. So I'm really happy." A commanding display from Italy helped them to thrash Nepal by 10 wickets in their Group C match at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. Italy showcased their all-round efforts throughout the match, as Nepal were outclassed by the T20 World Cup debutants. Chasing 124, openers and brothers Justin Mosca and Anthony Mosca got Italy to a decent start as they scored 16 runs in the first two overs. The European Nation brought up their fifty in four overs, with the score standing at 68/0 after six overs. The duo brought up their respective half-centuries in the 11th over, with Justin reaching the milestone in 37 balls and Anthony in 28 deliveries. It was a fantastic display of batting by Italy as they chased down the target in just 12.4 overs. Earlier, after winning the toss, Tthe Rhinos were off to a shaky start after losing Kushal Bhurtel (5) to Ali Hasan in the second over as Nepal scored 8/1. Aasif Sheikh and captain Rohit Paudel stitched a 41-run stand for the second wicket until they lost two quick wickets. Paudel lost his wicket to Kalugamage, and Aasif was dismissed by Ben Manenti, leaving Nepal crumbled to 49/3 in the eighth over. Then a vital 43-run fourth-wicket partnership between Dipendra Singh Airee and Aarif Sheikh followed, before another collapse. However, a sudden collapse happened after a brilliant bowling performance by Italy. Dipendra Singh Airee went after scoring 17; Aarif scored 27, Lokesh Bam (3), Gulsan Jha (3), and Nadan Yadav (0) as Nepal crumbled to 8/102 in the 17th over. Nepal lost 5 wickets for just nine runs. Towards the end, Nepal were bundled out for a below-par score of 123 in 19.3 overs. For Italy, Ben Manenti (2/9), Ali Hasan (1/34), JJ Smuts (1/22), Kalugamage (3/18) and Jaspreet Singh (1/8) were among the wicket takers. (ANI)
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