Italy and Romania have won for the second time as the first of three European sub-regional qualifiers for the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup continued today in Rome.

Italy's win came in the afternoon Group A match, with Italy's captain/coach Gareth Berg asking France to bat first after winning the toss. France were bowled out for 116 with Crishan Kalugamage taking 4-17.

France then gave Italy a scare at the start of their reply with Zaheer Zahiri taking two wickets in two balls in the first over, including that of former Australian international Joe Burns who was out lbw first ball. Justin Mosca was then run out in the second over and Italy were 2-3. Harry Manenti got them out of that hole though with an innings of 65 to help his team complete a five wicket win with 10 balls to spare.

Romania were also in action in the afternoon session, taking on Portugal in a Group B encounter. Adrian Lascu took 5-21 as Portugal were bowled out for 142. Taranjeet Singh then scored 62 from 43 balls to help his team secure a six wicket win with nine balls to spare.

In the morning session, the Group B match was between Austria and Israel in the first match between the sides since 2002. Israel batted first after winning the toss and were kept to 107-9, with Josh Evans their sole bright spot with a knock of 42. Waqar Zalmai and Abdullah Akbarjan both took three wickets for Austria. Aqib Iqbal then scored an unbeaten 52 from 35 balls to help his team complete a seven wicket win in quick fashion, scoring their runs in 13.1 overs.

The morning Group A match between Isle of Man and Turkey saw the Manx side rack up 182-7 after being put in, with contributions coming from Oliver Webster (48 from 27 balls) and George Burrows (52 from 43). Burrows then took 3-10 to help keep Turkey to 101-9, the Isle of Man winning by 81 runs.

Tomorrow is a rest day in Rome with play resuming on Wednesday. In the morning session Italy will look to continue their winning start when they take on Isle of Man and Austria come up against Portugal. In the afternoon Luxembourg play Turkey and Israel face Hungary.