Our goal was always to compete at the top competition: Italy stand-in skipper Harry Manenti

Calling it a dream come true, Italy's stand-in skipper Harry Manenti said competing at the top level had always been the team's goal after they secured their maiden T20 World Cup win. Italy delivered a commanding performance, outplaying Nepal in all three departments to seal an emphatic 10-wicket victory, a result that marked a defining moment for cricket in the country. ''Yes, it's pretty extraordinary, really. It's something that a lot of people in Italy, a lot of people in this group have dreamt of for a long time,'' Manenti said at the post-match presentation. ''When we qualified, that was obviously a special moment, but our goal was always to compete at this level and compete in this top competition, and we showed that today. ''We didn't quite nail it the other day, but we backed it up today and showed the world what we've got,'' he added. The Azzuri were without regular skipper Wayne Madsen, who continues to recover from a dislocated shoulder. ''Yeah, obviously, it hurt us losing our leader and our captain, Wayne, and I hope he's back really soon, but the boys regrouped really well. It was obviously a shock to the system in that fourth over (against Scotland) when it happened, and we probably didn't quite nail it from then on and (the game) got out of our hand. ''Every team's the same, and they have their own little element, but we've got brothers in our side, and I see it as we've got 15 of them.'' Italy's spinners, led by Crishan Kalugamage, dismantled Nepal's batting line-up, bowling them out for a modest 123. ''We controlled the game really well, managed to take wickets all the way through, which we struggled with a little bit the other day (against Scotland). And our spinners are class. ''We've seen Ben, we've seen JJ before. Crishan is a young leg spinner who hasn't been seen before in the world. And I'd like to think that he's now made his mark on the World Cup and shown what he can do.'' Manenti also lavished praise on brothers Anthony and Justin Mosca, who stitched together an unbeaten 124-run partnership, the highest stand by siblings in men's T20Is. ''It's pretty special to be able to watch Mosca boys dominate on the world stage today. It's been pretty hard for them to continue their pathway in cricket and keep going without that end goal. We finally achieved that with the World Cup. ''For them to go out there and dominate the game today and to show how good they are, which I've seen before, but the world hasn't. And today, hopefully people appreciate the quality that's in this side. Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel was disappointed by the team's batting effort, specially after almost chasing 184 against a top team like England in the previous game. ''A growing team like us, we need to be more consistent and today was the day to prove that, but not taking away the credit from Italy. They played really well today and credit must go to them.''