Jersey’s powerhouse batting line up shone in full force on a sunny Bank Holiday Monday in front of a large crowd at the National Cricket Centre at Grainville.
On a fresh deck, skipper Chuggy Perchard had no hesitations in making first use of it, opting to bat first and, three hours later, his top order had returned him an enormous effort of 348 for 3, with opener Nick Greenwood scoring 107 and Josh Lawrenson starring with 139.
After the remarkable finish from Saturday’s tied game with Kuwait, which undoubtedly will have taken its tole on the squad, credit must be given to the mental fortitude of a group to come back in such a dominant style.
Opening pair Harrison Carlyon and Nick Greenwood have struggled to fire as a partnership so far this tournament, with Greenwood coming into the Denmark game on the back of consecutive first ball ducks.
However, it was Carlyon to miss out on this occasion. Having scored an excellent 77 against Kuwait, Carlyon was removed in just the second over thanks to a nicely bowled nip-backer through the gate from Shakeel Zeb.
For the third game running, Jersey had lost an early wicket, but from 5 for 1, Lawrenson joined Greenwood and the pair never looked back. Despite the strong start from the visitors, it would be another 39 overs before they took another wicket.
Greenwood was the more aggressive early on, strolling along at comfortably higher than a run a ball through the first ten overs to dominate the scoring, with Lawrenson looking measured and set on building a big innings.
There was one half chance for Lawrenson early, as he attempted a mid-timed pull shot off seamer Saud Munir which went straight back to the bowler, but the sharp chance didn’t stick.
The pair were in cruise control, picking runs off at will and making the most of the lightning fast outfield and shorter square boundaries. Greenwood was the first of the two to reach his half century, raising his bat after just 41 deliveries in the 15th over, a fine return to form for the Kiwi batter.
The Jersey 100 followed shortly after in the 17th over, a perfect platform for the solid batting unit to build on, and the score moved along to 133 for 2 at the half way stage of the innings, before Lawrenson brought up his own half century from a slightly more measured 76 deliveries.
The pair continued to motor along, moving the score up towards the 200 mark and well passed the 150 partnership. In the 37th over, Greenwood achieved his milestone, working a delivery from Eshan Karimi towards mid-off for a single and a quite superb century.
Considering the disappointment of the first two games, Greenwood’s efforts on a hot day at Grainville proved that class is permanent and the rousing reception of the many in attendance showed their thoughts of the openers efforts.
The Jersey 200 came up in the 39th over, as a score in excess of 275-300 looked well in the making. Lawrenson took himself in the 90s with consecutive boundaries off Saif Ahmad, a six followed by a four, but he wouldn’t get to celebrate his milestone with Greenwood, who found himself dismissed off the first ball of the 41st over, caught by Saud Munir from opener Shakeel Zeb’s bowling for 107 from 110 deliveries.
Lawrenson would get there the following over however, flicking one off his pads down to the fine leg boundary to bring up his second List A century off 131 deliveries.
With 8 overs remaining, Zak Tribe turned the aggressor in the hunt for some quick runs at the back end of a tiring fielding effort for the Danes. The in form Tribe looked in brutal touch, smashing 18 runs from the 43rd over to bring up the 250 for the hosts, before Lawrenson took Munir for four consecutive boundaries to start the 44th over.
Both men struck mighty sixes over the leg side as the 300 came up in the 47th over, but the 48th over would bring an end to the monumental Lawrenson innings, the number three finally dismissed for a career high 139 from 152 deliveries, Grainville rising as one for one of the all time great Jersey knocks.
An exhausted looking Denmark then had to content with two more overs of Zak Tribe and incoming Jonty Jenner, who took no mercy, smashing 36 runs from the final two overs, including 22 from the final over.
Jenner finished 27 from just 9 deliveries and Tribe finishing not out on 49 from just 22 balls, as Jersey strolled off the park with a mammoth 348 for 3 to their name.
50 overs chasing leather is never easy for ay side, but full credit to the Denmark side who made a solid start to their chase, considering they were requiring nearly seven runs an over from the off.
Openers Musa Shaheen and captain Hamid Shah made steady progress against the pace duo of Julius Sumerauer and George Richardson, however it was a piece of fielding brilliance to break the deadlock when Jonty Jenner ran out the opposition captain for 21 in an opening stand of 56.
Shaheen was joined by the exciting Danish youngster Lucky Ali, who played some scintillating shots to entertain the crowd. The pair built another solid partnership of 55 before Shaheen was was the second to go for an even 50, trapped LBW by centurion Nick Greenwood’s off-spin.
The game was thrown open just two balls later, as Saif Ahmad followed back for 0, caught superbly by Josh Lawrenson, the two centurions combining again to leave the visitors 111-3.
Lucky Ali continued on his way, bringing up an entertaining fifty of his own, before he too was removed. Jersey are missing the leg-spinning brilliance of Ben Ward, but fellow leggy Dom Blampied stepped, removing Ali for 52 stumped smartly by Jake Dunford, the first of his three wickets of an excellent spell.
Regular wickets continued to fall as Lawrenson and Greenwood both claimed two each, Harrison Carlyon took one, Blampied with three and another run out from Jenner saw the Danes eventually bowled out for a valiant 259 in 45 overs.
Jersey now sit in an excellent position in the group, top of the table with 13 points after six wins from eight games so far.
Their next match sees them face the strong Papua New Guinea side, currently sat third in the table at the time of writing, on Thursday 28 August at Farmers Field, set for an 11am start.
Click the link below to access the full scorecard.
https://www.icc-cricket.com/matches/264435/jersey-vs-denmark
Jersey Squad:
Charles Perchard (c), Dom Blampied, Charlie Brennan, Harrison Carlyon, Jake Dunford, Patrick Gouge, Nick Greenwood, Jonty Jenner, Josh Lawrenson, Will Perchard, George Richardson, Julius Sumerauer, Asa Tribe, Zak Tribe
