Italy opt to bowl; Scotland play Brad Wheal

Toss Italy opt to bowl vs Scotland

Wayne Madsen called it right at the toss in Italy's men's T20 World Cup debut and opted to chase against Scotland at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Italy qualified by virtue of finishing second in the T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier, and Madsen said that their camps in Dubai and then in Chennai have made them ready for the big stage. The Mosca brothers - Anthony and Justin - will open the batting for them with the Manenti brothers - Harry and Ben - lining up at Nos. 5 and 6.

Crishan Kalugamage, one of those key players in Italy's pathway to qualification, will provide heft to the bowling, with Thomas Draca providing the X-factor with his right-arm fast. They start their T20 World Cup journey against Scotland, a side they beat at the Europe Qualifier.

Scotland showed spurts of brilliance in their opening game against West Indies a couple of days ago, but couldn't sustain it for long. They made one change to their team, bringing in experienced quick Brad Wheal in place of Safyaan Sharif.

A new pitch was being used for this game with one square boundary (57m) being significantly shorter than the other (69m). Samuel Badree observed the pitch and said there could be a bit of "preparation moisture" which could assist seam but there was an even covering of grass which could make the track a belter.

Scotland: 1 George Munsey, 2 Michael Jones, 3 Brandon McMullen, 4 Richie Berrington (capt), 5 Tom Bruce, 6 Matthew Cross (wk), 7 Mark Watt, 8 Michael Leask, 9 Oliver Davidson, 10 Brad Wheal, 11 Brad Currie

Italy: 1 Anthony Mosca, 2 Justin Mosca, 3 JJ Smuts, 4 Wayne Madsen (capt), 5 Harry Manenti, 6 Ben Manenti, 7 Grant Stewart, 8 Gian-Piero Meade (wk), 9 Crishan Kalugamage, 10 Thomas Draca, 11 Ali Hasan