Action in Europe continued over the weekend, and a number of league seasons are reaching fever pitch.
Farmers Caesareans had the easiest of wins in the Jersey Premier League on Saturday as Walkovers lived up to their name by forfeiting to the leaders, but Old Victorians kept up the pressure with a comprehensive victory over St Ouen Springfield at FB Fields.
Put in to bat, the Old Boys took control with an opening stand of 169 between Elliot Corbet and Andrew Dewhirst; Corbet eventually fell for 83, but Dewhirst went on to make 120, and his side completed their 40 overs on 312 for five.
With Ollie Nightingale, who had been injured during the first innings, unable to bat St Ouen Springfield soon collapsed, and it took an unbeaten 50 from Toby Clark, batting at eight, to get them to 131, Sam Dewhirst the most successful of the Old Boys’ bowlers with three for 15.
Old Victorians are now 23 points behind Farmers Caesareans with a game in hand, a postponed fixture against the Walkovers now scheduled for 21 August.
Bowlers in charge in the Isle of Man
All three sides batting first in the Isle of Man Premiership found the going hard, none of them passing 150, and their opponents all cruised to comfortable victories.
Leaders Crosby dismissed third-placed Cronkbourne for 149 at Marown, Jacob Butler taking four for 48 and Chris Langford three for 17, and although they were 41 for three at one stage brothers Harry and Joseph Rothwell, with 62 and 36 not out respectively, ensured that they won by six wickets.
Brothers Russ and Greg Miller were instrumental in Peel’s dismissal of Ramsey for 140, taking three for 17 and three for 29, with Grant Atchison top-scoring with 50. Peter Lewis (41 not out) and Josh Mills (23 not out) then guided Peel to a seven-wicket victory.
Muhammad Salman was the main destroyer for Valkyres as they bowled Finch Hill out for 125, and Arun Mahalingam made short work of the chase with a 51-ball 53 not out as Valkyres won by 5 wickets.
Jinnah suffer first defeat in Italy
Among the seven matches played in the Italian championship, one of the more significant was Padova’s five-wicket victory over Jinnah in Brescia, throwing the battle in Group E open.
Also important was Bologna’s six-wicket win against Cricket Stars in Group D, while in Group C Janjua Brescia posted the highest score of the day with 351 for eight and beat Cividate by 94 runs.
Milan Kingsgrove cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Fresh Tropical in Group A, thanks to half-centuries by Joy Perera and Dinuk Samarawickrama, and in Group F Lucca had a 36-run win over Pianoro.
There were two matches in Group G, Asian Latina beating Lux Roma by 8 wickets and Napoli dismissing Capannelle for 153 to win by 72 runs at Spinaceto.
Salzburg setback for Austria Wien’s title hopes
Previously-unbeaten Austria Wien had an unhappy visit to Salzburg’s Latschach ground at the weekend, losing by five runs to Salzburg on Saturday and then suffering a much more decisive defeat at the hands of Salzburg Löwen the following day.
Batting first on Saturday, Salzburg reached 167 for six, thanks to a third-wicket stand of 117 between Abrar Ahmad Bilal (70) and Momand Sahed (65), and at 161 for two going into Sahed’s final over with Lakmal Kasthuriarachige well set a victory for the visitors seemed almost certain.
But with a wicket from his first delivery Sahed ramped up the pressure, conceding just a single off the next four. That left Kasthuriarachige needing to hit a six off the last, and instead he was caught, departing for 92 made from 60 balls as Salzburg celebrated a remarkable win.
It appeared that Austria were on course for a victory again on Sunday when, with Satyam Subhash taking four for 15, they dismissed Salzburg Löwen for 113,
But then the Löwen struck back, Yousuf Ahmadzai taking three for 19 and Gulnazar Jabarkhel two for 6 in three overs, and the Viennese were all out for a disappointing 58 in 14.4 overs.
At Ballpark Graz on Sunday Habib Ahmadzai’s 44-ball 52 was the basis of Afghan Steiermark’s five-wicket victory over Sub-Continent CC.
Prague CC make it two out of two
In the Czech Pro40 League Prague CC established an early lead by beating Prague Spartans by five wickets at Vinoř.
Chasing the Spartans’ 180, Prague were in trouble at 107 for five, but Sudesh Wickremasinghe (53 not out) and Prakash Sadasivan (31 not out) knocked off the remaining runs without further loss to see their side home with twelve overs to spare.
Frederyck Heydenrych was the hero of Vinohrady’s successful journey to Brno, his 58 and his 89-run stand for the sixth wicket with Ritik Tomar (40) enabling the Prague outfit to reach 203 for seven.
He then picked up three for 21 when Brno replied, and with Venkatesh Marghashayam claiming four for 48 the local side were dismissed for 151, giving Vinohrady a 52-run victory.
Sunday’s game at Vinoř turned out to be a thriller, as Bohemians chased the Prague Barbarians’ total of 216 all out, of which Murali Sai contributed 85; Sabawoon Davizi claimed four for 39 for Bohemians.
Despite Sazib Bhuiyan’s 34-ball 63 the Bohemians seemed to be on the ropes at 158 for eight, but Javed Iqbal and Ali Waqar then took matters in hand, both finishing on 33 not out as they steered their side to victory with 25 deliveries to spare.
Vestli B and Sentrum S A stay unbeaten in Oslo
Wins over Nation B and Bislett Ducks ensured that Vestli B stayed top of Group C in the Oslo T20 League in Norway, while Sentrum S A dominated a rain-affected Group B match against Falken A, Zeeshan Ali’s 47-ball 69 setting up their 84-run victory.
Star moved back to the top of Group A by virtue of a last-ball, four-wicket defeat of Bjørvika, while in Group D MASK B suffered their first defeat of the season at the hand of Haugenstua A, who had earlier beaten second-placed Nittedal and have now put themselves in a position to challenge for the play-offs.
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