International Cricket

ICC CWC Challenge League A Italy vs Bermuda May 2026 Recap

Anika Nair 14 May 2026 Updated 14 May 2026 ~4 min read ~741 words

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Italy and Bermuda are both in the lower tier of the ICC ODI pathway, but the May 2026 window of CWC Challenge League A carried more weight than the league's name suggests. For Italy, fresh off the country's historic men's T20 World Cup qualification earlier in the year, the bigger pathway question is whether the same generation can lift them out of the Challenge League and into WCL2. For Bermuda, the question is more existential.

Match Summary

Italy won the toss and chose to bat. They posted 234/8 in 50 overs, with captain Joe Burns making 67 and Harry Manenti adding 41 at no.4. Bermuda were bowled out for 198 in 47.3 overs in reply, with Kamau Leverock top-scoring with 54. Italy won by 36 runs in their May 2026 window fixture.

Italy Innings

Italy's phase data on a slow surface:

Powerplay (overs 1-10): 48/2. A scratchy start but not a disastrous one.
Middle (overs 11-40): 132/4. Burns and Manenti built the spine of the innings with a 71-run third-wicket stand.
Death (overs 41-50): 54/2. Late hitting from Grant Stewart added 25 off 18 at the end.

Burns's 67 was the kind of anchor knock Italy has needed for years and which has only become available since the country's recent focus on bringing eligible Australian-born players into the international setup. He faced 89 of the 162 deliveries Italy used through the middle and put away the loose deliveries from the Bermudian medium pace.

Bermuda Chase

Bermuda's chase started well. Captain Delray Rawlins made 35 at the top and Leverock's 54 was the highest score of the innings. They were 109/2 at the end of the 25th and looked set to take the chase deep.

The fall came in a stretch from the 28th to the 34th over — four wickets for 31 runs — and the required rate climbing to 7+ on this Italian surface was always going to be a stretch. Italy's spinner Manpreet Singh took 3/38 and was the destroyer in the middle phase.

Where Each Side Sits in the League

Challenge League A also includes Hong Kong as the third active member of the May 2026 cycle. The league's top finishers progress to the ODI Qualifier playoff and ultimately to the ODI World Cup 2027 Qualifier itself. Italy's win puts them top of the May window standings, and with their T20 World Cup buzz adding to the squad's confidence, the team is well-positioned.

Bermuda need to find a way to build a 250+ total in their next two fixtures of the cycle, because the team's historical pattern of conceding 240+ and chasing under-rate is what has kept them off the qualifier path for two cycles now.

Qualification Pathway

The CWC Challenge League is the entry tier of the ICC's ODI pathway. The top sides at the end of the cycle play off for promotion to WCL2, with the bottom sides facing regional qualifier risk for the next cycle. For Italy, which is also competing across the men's T20I World Cup pathway and now has a much higher domestic visibility than at any time in the country's cricket history, the ODI Challenge League is a long-term build.

For Bermuda, the result here means the team enters the back end of the cycle needing two wins in the final window to keep promotion hopes alive.

Italy keep building the case for promotion. Bermuda's pathway gets harder. The Challenge League is rarely glamorous, but it is where the long arc of the ODI World Cup 2027 cycle is being written for these two sides.