Germany clinch thriller; Jersey, Italy cruise to wins

Germany marked their return to WCL Division Five for the first time in nine years with a nail-biting one-wicket win over Ghana.

Chasing a target of 159 to win, Germany were 10 runs away from victory with four wickets in hand when Obed Agbomadzie took his third wicket of the day in the 37th over to trigger a dramatic tailspin. Vincent Ateak followed a run-out on the fifth ball of the 38th over by dismissing No. 10 Sajid Liaqat off the first ball for his third wicket.

Ahmed Wardak struck a boundary off the penultimate ball of the 40th over to secure victory, ensuring Daniel Weston's 47 off 40 balls to open the chase didn't go to waste. Asad Mohammed set up the victory in the first innings with 3 for 30 after Germany sent Ghana in to bat at the toss.

In the other Group B encounter, Jersey coasted to a six-wicket win over Vanuatu. Jonathan Dunn and Patrick Matautaava put Vanuatu into a strong position early with a 76-run second-wicket stand but nobody outside the top three crossed double digits on the day as Vanuatu lost their last seven wickets for 27 runs to be bowled out for 170.

The game turned when Matautaava and Nalin Nipiko fell in the space of four balls in the 25th over. Matautaava was bowled for 39 off 52 balls by Eliot Miles before allrounder Nipiko was given out handling the ball for a duck. Jonathan Dunn tried to shield the middle order from Ben Stevens, who took 5 for 28 in his WCL return after missing last year's Division Four due to a medical condition, before he was the ninth man out for 76.

Former captain Peter Gough struck 65 off 78 to anchor the Jersey chase before Corey Bisson finished the game with an unbeaten 37 off 30, hitting his fifth boundary to clinch victory with 94 balls to spare.

Italy established their superiority in Group A with a 48-run win over Guernsey. Former captain Damian Crowley top-scored with 92 off 103 balls in Italy's 277 for 7 after new captain Gayashan Munasinghe opted to bat.

Oliver Newey made 73 off 93 after entering in the second over of the chase but Guernsey never seriously threatened to overhaul the target. When three wickets fell in the space of 11 balls to make it 187 for 8 in the 42nd over, Guernsey shut up shop and focused on batting out the overs to limit the damage on the net run-rate tiebreaker as they eventually finished on 229 for 8.

Qatar posted the highest total of the day on their WCL debut, making 343 for 7 in an eventual 93-run win over Cayman Islands. Dharmang Patel (93 off 79 balls) and Khurram Shahzad (94 off 116 balls) shared a 162-run third-wicket stand before both were run-out. Tamoor Sajjad (49 off 36 balls) and Kamran Khan (50 not out off 27 balls) made brisk contributions down the order to propel Qatar to a commanding total after they were sent in to bat.

Considering their dismal prior history at WCL events, Cayman Islands posted a respectable 250 for 8 in reply. Conroy Wright top-scored with an unbeaten 74 off 63 at No. 8. Cayman had gotten off to a reasonable start before Imran Ashraf removed Sacha de Alwis (32) and captain Ramon Sealy off consecutive balls in the 20th over to make it 79 for 5. Wright arrived in the 29th over at 127 for 6 and set about mitigating the net run-rate by dragging the match to the final over, giving Cayman a chance to stay alive for a semi-final berth.

Day two of the tournament features a pair of matchups between unbeaten sides - Italy v Qatar in Group B and Jersey v Germany in Group A - with the two winners guaranteed a semi-final berth. Guernsey play Cayman Islands and Vanuatu face Ghana in virtual knockout matches.