KATHMANDU: The Netherlands and Italy have qualified for the ICC T20 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka in 2026.

The two teams have made it to the World Cup after qualifying through the European regional qualifiers. Italy has qualified for the World Cup for the first time, while the Netherlands has qualified for the World Cup for the fifth time.

Italy lost to the Netherlands by 9 wickets in the decisive match on Friday. But they qualified for the World Cup by finishing second on the basis of run rate. The Netherlands, on the other hand, secured their place in the World Cup by adding 6 points with the win.

Batting first, Italy scored 134 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs. Ben Manenti scored 30 runs, Grant Stewart 25, Harry Manenti 23 and captain Joe Burns scored 22 runs. For the Netherlands, Roelof van der Merwe took 3 wickets, Kyle Clyne took 2 wickets and Aryan Dutt and Paul van Meeker took one wicket each.

In reply, the Netherlands achieved the target in 16.2 overs for the loss of just 1 wicket. Max O’Dowd remained unbeaten on 47 and captain Scott Edwards remained unbeaten on 37.

Scotland, which has been playing in consecutive T20 World Cups, failed to qualify this time. Defeats to Italy and Jersey brought an end to Scotland’s World Cup journey.