Who Is Ben Manenti? Italian-Australian All-Rounder Who Hammered 60 Off 25 vs England in T20 World Cup 2026

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

“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.

“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.

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