Italy have secured their place in next year's European final qualifying tournament for the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup after a thumping win over Romania in the final of the first of three sub-reigonal tournaments.

Romanian captain Vasu Sani won the toss at the Simar Cricket Ground in Rome and asked the home team to bat first. Justin Mosca and Joe Burns got Italy off to a rapid start with 91 coming in the six powerplay overs without a wicket falling. When Mosca was out in the eighth over, 106 were on the board with Mosca having contributed 72 of them from 30 balls.

Burns batted on and scored an unbeaten 108 from 55 balls as his team racked up 244-4 from their 20 overs. Only two Romanian batters reached double figures in their reply, with Taranjeet Singh's 31 their top score in their total of 84, losing by 160 runs. Crishan Kalugamage was the pick of Italy's bowlers with 3-12.

In other matches yesterday, Austria beat France by 6 wickets to finish third, Portugal beat Isle of Man by 88 runs to finish fifth and Israel beat Luxembourg by two wickets to finish seventh.

Italy now join Netherlands and Scotland in next year's European final after both were eliminated from the ongoing 2024 Men's T20 World Cup. The winners of two more sub-regional events this year will completed the five team tournament.