No points, but a good start

No points, but a good start

A tremendous fielding and bowling performance had put coach Neil MacRae’s men in a promising position, with Italy 101 for nine wickets off 18.4 overs.

But the rain came down, the covers came on and never got taken off again, leaving Jersey trailing probably their most dangerous Group B opponents in the table as Italy had, earlier in the day, beaten Spain by 32 runs, after compiling 147 for nine in 20 overs, then restricting Spain to 115 for six.

Jersey expect that the match will be rescheduled, at the same ground, for tomorrow, a rest day.

MacRae was disppointed, but far from downbeat as regards the performance: ‘I’m very happy with the team’s showing in the field – these were exactly the standards we want to set for this tournament.

‘Good bowling, backed up by excellent fielding made it a good start in terms of performance – it should give us a lot of confidence going into today’s games and the remainder of the tournament.

‘Ben Stevens, ‘Chuggy’ Perchard and Will Robertson were the pick of our bowlers, but it was just a really good team display in the field.’

MacRae’s men will play twice today, taking on Spain then the Isle of Man in Amstelveen, both those sides having suffered first-day losses. Fixtures against the remainder of Group B, namely Belgium and Finland, take place at Schiedam on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

In yesterday’s other Group B Games, Belgium beat the Isle of Man by three wickets, with just two balls to spare (IoM 121/4, Belgium 122/7, 19.4 overs); Italy bt Spain by 32 runs (Italy 147/9, Spain 115/6)

Guernsey, meanwhile,flew out of their Group A blocks to get their campaign off to the ideal start yesterday.

Heeding their coach Ash Wright’s call to be clinical in their performances in the Netherlands this week, the Sarnians skittled out Gibraltar for 70 before knocking off the runs without losing a wicket at Hazelaarweg in Rotterdam.

Opening batsman Lucas Barker picked up the man-of-the-match award for his quickfire 52 not out, culminating in a six to win the match, but the damage had already been done by the Guernsey bowling attack, who were ably backed up inthe field.

Also in Group A, Austria beat Portugual by six wickets (Portugal 118/3, Austria 119/4); Germany beat Cyprus by 46 runs on the DL scoring method (Germany 179/7, Cyprus 70/9); Sweden beat Cech Republic by six wickets (C Reb 111/8, Sweden 112/4).

Full results inside Thursday’s JEP.

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