Israel sneak 1-wicket win over Belgium

After yesterdays convincing win over Germany in their opening match of the European U19 Championships being played in Belgium, Israel were made to work much harder against the host nation in todays match.

Chasing 150 runs to win from 50 overs, Israel lost an early wicket but opening batsman Mikki Cohen held together the top order, before being the fourth man out for an excellent 53 with the total on 89.

The middle and lower order collapsed, as Israel went from 124 for five to 128 for 9, leaving the hero of yesterdays game, Gabi Schachat running out of partners as the rather small target was suddenly made to look much more daunting.

However the final pair of Schachat and debutant Sagi Razpurker scored the required 22 runs, with Schachat undefeated on 24. Earlier, Israel dismissed the fancied Belgian team inside 40 overs. Shifron Waskar bowled an excellent spell of seven overs, taking two wickets for just 11 runs.

Israel play two Twenty20 matches tomorrow, meeting the Isle of Man, the only other undefeated team in the tournament so far in the morning, and another of the strong teams, Italy, later in the afternoon.