Italy’s Ben Manenti smashed his second fifty in the T20 World Cup 2026 as he struck a quick-fire 60 off 25 against England on Monday in Kolkata. Manenti hit 6 maximums and four fours during the course of his innings. He had earlier notched up a fifty against Scotland after scoring 52 at the same venue. Manenti’s fifty against England came in just 22 balls.
Italy were handed a target of 203 but lost early wickets before Manenti and Justin Mosca provided the resistance with a 92-run stand for the fourth wicket. Mosca was undone for 43 off 34 by Adil Rashid. Menenti scored 20 runs against Will Jacks in one over before getting out.
Ben Manenti is taking the fight to the spinners! 🔥
He is building a vital partnership with Justin Mosca to keep Italy right in the hunt. 🇮🇹
ICC Men’s #T20WorldCup | #ENGvITA | LIVE NOW ➡️ https://t.co/xRf3Nc9OQ0 pic.twitter.com/ShqJj9baNs
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 16, 2026
Who is Ben Manenti?
Ben Manenti has played 10 T20Is where he has struck 145 runs at a strike-rate of 127.91. In overall T20s, he has played 52 matches and has scored 265 runs. Manenti has picked up 27 T20 wickets at an economy of 7.28. He has also played for Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League (BBL). In 42 BBL appearances, he has 22 wickets to his name at an economy of 7.31 and has scored 120 runs at a strike-rate of 94.48.
A top-class knock by Ben Manenti.
He walked in to bat with Italy struggling at 22/3 while Chasing 203#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/oPyNAxV0np
— 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒔 (@Shebas_10dulkar) February 16, 2026
Ben Manenti has become the trending topic in sports twitter. This is how new players get the hype when they perform at the biggest stage. And its the first world cup of Italy. Many more to come. Top effort and resilience shown 🔥🎉#ForzaItalia#T20WorldCup2026 pic.twitter.com/mogFvtSdig
— Mayank (@Cules651) February 16, 2026
Manenti made his List A debut in November 2021 for Tasmania in 2021-22 Marsh One-Day Cup. He made his first-class debut in March 2022, for Tasmania in the 2021–22 Sheffield Shield season.
Manenti is eligible to represent Italy internationally through his Italian grandmother. Manenti made his T20I debut for Italy against Ireland at the 2023 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Regional Final in Scotland. Ben comes from a sporting family with his father John Manenti being a former rugby union player and now coach. Ben’s brother Harry also plays for Italy.
TAKE A BOW BENJAMIN MANENTI – THE STAGE IS SET FOR ITALY. 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/xxkgOnIXQl
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) February 16, 2026
Shane Warne’s Influence
He credited the influence of the late Shane Warne on his career while growing up in Australia. “Obviously, growing up in Australia (and) watching Shane Warne bowl, he was a hero for all spinners. He was probably a big influence on my career and I got a lot of coaches back home that have helped me out as well,” Manenti told the media here after Italy’s historic win.
BEN MANENTI – THE BEST ASSOCIATE BATTER IN T20 WORLD CUP 2026 😍👌 pic.twitter.com/rNnHo6EwfW
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 16, 2026
“I’ve played a lot of T20 cricket now. I’ve bowled the first over a lot of times. There’s a job I’m used to, a job I’ve done before, so I wasn’t I wasn’t too nervous, but it’s nice to get the team off to a good start,” he said.
If you are not watching England vs Italy match right now then you are missing on some real cricket!!
Ben Manenti has scored 22 balls 50 & Italy is right in the game & ahead at this point of time compare to England’s score at same mark!! pic.twitter.com/7fjM3gCjid
— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) February 16, 2026
“We watched the England West Indies game last night and we saw it was spinning a little bit. So once we knew we were on the same wicket, we sort of came up with a bit of a plan on how to bowl, and it was nice to work in tandem with them today.” “I think we got six wickets between us today, so it’s always nice when the wicket does spin in T20 cricket. You don’t often get it. when you do, it’s nice,” he added.
Covering sports for fun. Cricket in whites remains the first love—the kind that teaches patience, rewards nuance, and tells stories over five days rather than five seconds.
