Cricket: Isle of Man suffer defeat to Italy in world cup qualifiers

Chris Langford impresses and Spencer Clarke makes debut during loss

The Isle of Man men's cricket side have suffered defeat at the hands of Italy in their latest match of the ICC T20 Sub Regional World Cup Qualifiers.

The Italian hosts went on to take a seven-wicket victory as the Isle of Man were bowled out for 85 in the opening innings.

 Isle of Man captain Ollie Webster had gotten his side off to a positive start at Roma Cricket Ground notching up 21 runs for 10 balls before being bowled by Italy's Thomas Jack Draca who would take three wickets overall.

Both Edward Beard (16 runs) and Chris Langford (14 runs) would be the other standout batting performances for the Isle of Man as Italy rattled the wickets home late on, taking four for just eight runs to leave the Isle of Man all-out with 17.5 overs played.

As the Isle of Man went into field they made a quick start with Langford taking two wickets aided with catches from Harry McAleer.

However, the following partnership from that of Anthony Mosca (30 not out) and Harry Manenti (31) quickly ate into the Isle of Man's advantage before Mosca's combination with Marcus Compopiano (seven not out) late on saw out the game for the home side to finish on 87-3 and with 17.3 overs on the board.

Despite the loss, there was a positive elsewhere for the Isle of Man as Spencer Clarke made his T20 international debut.

The Isle of Man return to action in the tournament on Saturday (15 June) when they face Luxembourg at Roma Cricket Ground - the match will get underway there on the day at 9.15am local time.