- Any one of four teams could win the tournament
- Jersey to play Guernsey on the final day at Farmer’s Field
- Defending champions Italy take on Denmark at Grainville
ICC EUROPEAN Division I is set for a fantastic climax tomorrow, as any one of four teams could seal promotion to July’s twenty20 World Cup Qualifier.
| P | W | T | L | Pts | NRR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2.098 |
| Jersey | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1.316 |
| Denmark | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0.774 |
| Guernsey | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0.487 |
| France | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -1.224 |
| Norway | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -3.440 |
Having remained unbeaten through the first two rounds of the tournament on Saturday, Guernsey and hosts Jersey both suffered defeat yesterday, meaning Italy, Denmark, and the two Channel Islands can only be separated by net run rate.
On that measure, Jersey currently trail Italy so they must beat the Sarnians tomorrow and hope the result of the Denmark versus Italy clash helps guide them into the global qualifier.
After thrashing Norway and edging past the Italians, Jersey were beaten by Denmark at Grainville yesterday lunchtime, while defending champions Italy inflicted on Guernsey their first defeat yesterday evening.
Despite failing to match the same dazzling performance levels they had displayed two days earlier, Jersey bounced back from the Danish defeat to beat France by 19 runs.
Analysing the entire day, coach Neil MacRae said: ‘We haven’t played our best cricket of the tournament today and you have to give Denmark some credit for bowling well.
‘I think it is a great tournament now – four teams on six points, playing each other going into the last day.
‘We played better cricket at Farmer’s on Saturday than we did here today so we’re happy to be playing our last game there on Wednesday.’
Discussing tomorrow’s showdown with Guernsey, he added: ‘The first thing is we have to win the game.
‘We also want to finish the tournament playing cricket in the style we know we can and we believe that will be good enough to win the tournament.
‘That’s where we want to be on Wednesday.’
Jersey started poorly yesterday, as captain Peter Gough was caught at mid-off from the first delivery of the morning before Ed Farley holed out on the square leg boundary just a few overs later.
While the Danes bowled well – with the pace of former England Test cricketer Amjad Khan in particular causing problems – it was their efforts in the field that kept the pressure on the hosts.
Jersey’s batsmen struggled to find the boundary rope throughout, causing frustration and, in the end, rash decisions.
Jonty Jenner (26 runs), Corné Bodenstein (22) and Ben Stevens (25) all made notable contributions but, knowing they had to up the run rate, were all dismissed without posting sizable individual totals.
Although it appeared a difficult wicket for the batting side, 119 for seven always looked a below bar score; and so it proved.
Wicketkeeper Freddie Klokker led the charge for Denmark, smashing 33 runs from 17 deliveries before being caught and bowled by Anthony Kay in the fifth over.
Opener Aftab Ahmed continued where Klokker had left off, attacking the powerplay, and by the time Chuggy Perchard trapped him leg before wicket, the match was as good as over.
Despite Jersey working hard in the field to stem the flow, skipper Michael Pedersen and the impressive Khan were able to guide their side to the win with more than three overs to spare.
At the same venue just a few hours later, Jersey’s top four again never really got set but excellent knocks from man-of-the-match Stevens (34 runs) and Anthony Kay (25) helped the Islanders post 144-8 from their allotted overs. Boundaries on the expansive Grainville outfield were hard to come by but it was notable that the Jersey batsmen were quick between the wickets, seeking the best value out of every shot.
Defending a far more competitive total – against a significantly inferior opponent – the hosts started well, as Bodenstein took a magnificent catch on the square leg boundary in the second over.
Although there remained some sloppy moments from Jersey – who gifted France 11 extras – the men in blue never really stayed on track to knock off the required total.
The Islanders’ left-arm spinners Nat Watkins and Stevens again impressed, picking up four wickets between them, while Bodenstein took one for ten from his two overs.
In the end, France had limped towards their final total of 125-6 – 19 runs short of their target – as their overs expired.
MacRae continued: ‘I think it was a harder wicket on which to attack compared to the one on Saturday and it possibly took us a little bit of time to adjust to that.
‘There were signs in the middle of the innings against France that we were learning how to bat on it though.
‘Having said that, it was tough to score and therefore the games were fairly additional. To find a way to win in that second game was a great show of character, coming back from the disappointment of Denmark and that sets us up well for the last day.’
Tomorrow’s match starts at 10.30 am.
Follow live updates from the final day of play on this website.
