At the College Field in the first match of the second and final group phase, Jersey turned in an excellent team performance to beat the Isle of Man by nine wickets.
Victory over Guernsey tomorrow, the Sarnians facing the Isle of Man today, would guarantee Jersey the trophy, though not promotion.
Batting positively despite the drizzle, de la Haye played some delightful shots yesterday to finish unbeaten on 89 after hitting nine fours and a six after facing 79 balls.
Together with captain Tom Wherry the pair put on a fine opening stand off 99, with Wherry being bowled by off-spinner Luke Lacey for 29.
Wherry’s departure brought Ed Farley to the wicket and he too played confidently, striking six boundaries to finish unbeaten after facing 45 deliveries.
Jersey never let their opponents off the hook in their innings after Will Golder took two wickets with consecutive balls in the second over with eight runs on the scoreboard.
Max Stokoe and Danny Kniveton fought back with a third-wicket partnership of 55, but an economical spell by spinners James Perchard and Tom Gibbs kept the pressure on.
Left-armer Perchard made the next breakthrough having Stokoe caught behind for 22 and Gibbs then bowled Kniveton for 25.
Two more wickets left the score on 88 for 6 before Lacey and Kane Dooley rebuilt the inning with a seventh-wicket partnership of 37.
Opening bowler Mark Chipperfield returned to remove both and the Isle of Man innings finished in the 47th over with the score on 169.
The Isle of Man face Guernsey today at Grainville with Jersey having a rest day.
Jersey face Guernsey at Grainville tomorrow and it could be a case of winner takes all.
But it will be no easy task as Guernsey too have played very well this week.
In yesterday’s fourth-to-sixth place match, Gibraltar squeezed home by three wickets against Israel in a low-scoring game at Les Quennevais while the match between Italy and Germany, for seventh to ninth places, was equally tense with the Germans ultimately prevailing with five balls remaining.
