Report

Denmark, Guernsey keep winning

A round up of the fourth day of matches of the European Championship Division One Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff
23-Jul-2011
Group A
Guernsey secured their spot in the semi-finals with a comfortable, six-wicket win over Gibraltar in St Peter Port. Guernsey's bowlers kept Gibraltar in check and restricted them to a total of 116. Only three of the Gibraltar batsmen got into double figures. Guernsey's reply started precariously and they were 10 for 3 in the early stages. An unbroken fifth wicket partnership of 78 (off 53 balls) between Jeremy Frith, who scored 44 (off 43 balls), and Ross Kneller, who contributed an aggressive 40 (off 29 balls), helped Guernsey reach their target with 15 balls remaining.
Austria strolled to their third win of the tournament, after beating Croatia by 51 runs in Port Soif. Amar Naeem's 100 (off 63 balls) which included 13 fours and three sixes, took Austria to an imposing 176 for 3. Croatia's opening pair of Christopher Pavac and Craig Sinovich shared in a stand of 84 but enjoyed no support from the rest of the batting line-up. Sri Lankan born offspinner Lakmal Kasturiarachchige took 5 for 22 as Croatia were bowled out for 125. Naeem effected five stumpings to cap off a brilliant all-round performance.
Italy qualified for the final four with a massive 98-run win over Norway in what was effectively a quarter-final in Castel. Damian Crowley and Peter Petricola's third-wicket partnership of 107 was the backbone of the Italy innings. With none of their batsmen scoring at a strike rate of less than 100.00, Italy put on an impressive 185 for 2. Norway were never in the chase and went from being 8 for 3 to 87 all out. Andy Northcote took 2 for 8 and Gayashan Munsinghe 2 for 6.
Group B
Denmark cruised into the semi-finals after beating Germany by 92 runs in St Martin. Opener Freddie Klokker scored a quickfire 91 (off 62 balls) while Shehzad Ahmed chipped in with 30 (off 23 balls) and Michael Pedersen was unbeaten on 38 (off 33 balls). Denmark finished on 166 for 1. Bashir Shah ripped through the Germany batting line-up with 4 for 8 and Pedersen took 3 for 9 and Germany crashed to 74 all out. Milano Fernando's 28 (off 21 balls) added some respectability to an otherwise dismal scorecard.
Belgium inflicted a fifth consecutive defeat on Israel, who they beat by five wickets in St Brelade. Israel lost both their openers for ducks but 17 (off 21 balls) from Josh Evans and 26 (off 23 balls) from Eshkol Solomon put them back on track. Danny Hotz contributed 40 (off 45 balls) but Israel were bowled out for 106 in 19.3 overs. Evans made sure the Belgians wobbled in reply and his 3 for 14 threatened an upset. But, at 57 for 5, Simon Newport and Nadeem Khan put on a half-century stand for the sixth wicket and took Belgium home with two overs to spare.
Jersey end off the semi-final line-up after an eight wicket win over France in St Clement. France began aggressively with openers Ramesh Sitathambaranthan and A Rehman Qureshit putting on 37 in 5 overs. Jersey's medium pacers worked well to squeeze France for runs and they could only amass 98 for 7. The chase was a stroll for Jersey who reached the target with more than five overs to spare. Edward Farley's 57 (off 42 balls) guided them to victory.