Eurowrap: Griffins on the verge in Guernsey

Action continues across Europe, with league cricket returning to the Czech Republic, and Cannacord Griffins nearing the Championship title in Guernsey.

Guernsey

The fourth round of matches took place in Guernsey’s Weekend League. This weekend, Wanderers Irregulars played the Griffins at King George V, whilst the Old Elizabethans took on Cobo at College field.

Cobo won the toss and elected to bat in their match. Like previous weeks, the Cobo openers got the innings off to a bright start. Alex Bushell and Zak Damarell put together 50 for the opening wicket. Damarell would go on to get 52, and with support from Dec Martel (57), Cobo would keep the scoring brisk. However, regular wickets from the Elizabethan bowlers, including a miserly two for 34 by Jake Swaisland, would see Cobo bowled out for 224.

After scoring over 300 runs in his last two matches, Matthew Stokes’ extraordinary run came to an end, run out for 33 after opening the Elizabethans’ innings. Charlie Birch would continue were he left off the week before, making a second consecutive century (104). With support from Ben Ferbrache (55), Elizabethans managed the chase well. Despite a later three wicket haul from Dan Brown, the Elizabethans won by five wickets with two overs to spare.

At KGV, Irregulars won the toss and batted. Although Ben Wentzel was out early, Lucas Barker (77) and Martin-Dale Bradley (31) got Irregulars into a solid position. All would change, as first Luke Le Tissier (four for 43) and then Tom Kirk (three for 37) would cause a collapse that would see Irregulars bowled out for 167.

With an under par score, Irregulars would need regular wickets to end the Griffins’ winning streak. And it was Bradley who best found them, with three wickets which had Griffins 107/6 at one stage. However, a 64-run partnership by Adam Martel and Dave Mullen would see Griffins win by four wickets.

With four consecutive wins, Griffins have a four point margin over the chasing pack with two game to go. One more win would be enough to win the championship. Irregulars and Elizabethans share second on four points each, whilst Cobo are 4^th, remaining winless this year.

Czech Republic

After a series of delays, the Czech T20 League began at the weekend. The restructured league now has three divisions, with six teams in Division One. Each of the Division One clubs began their campaigns this weekend.

Brno got their campaign off to a winning start at home versus Prague Barbarians. Despite being bowled out for 123 inside 19 overs, Brno were able to bowl out the Barbarians for only 104. Kashif Ali was the standout performer, scoring 31 runs with the bat, and then taking three for 23 with the ball.

Vinohrady also started with victory, beating Prague Spartans by 8 wickets at Vinor, a chase of 116 was mastered within 16 overs. Chris Pearce, who scored 60 off 38, was player of the match. Finally, defending champions Prague CC managed a 6 wicket win over Bohemian CC. Bohemians’ 126/9 was chased down in 17.4 overs, with Sharan Sundareswaran making an unbeaten 62 off 49 balls.

Finland

The Finnish Premier League continued at a pace, with nine matches played in the last week.

Helsinki CC continued their unbeaten run, beating Turku United CC by 79 runs. Their four wins from four matches put them 2^nd on the FPL table, behind Empire CC, who have won five out of five. Empire and Helsinki go head-to-head on Saturday in a top of the table clash.

Helsinki Gymkhana bounced back from the dreadful start, with two wins in the past week. Gymkhana bowled out Bengal Tigers for a mere 23 runs in their midweek clash, with Faizal Shazad claiming five for 9. Gymkhana won by 10 wickets with 107 balls to spare. Although they were defeated by Empire, Gymkhana bounced back to beat Greater Helsinki and climb to 3^rd on the table after five matches. Gymkhana are joined on two wins by SKK, Bengal Tigers and Greater Helsinki in a highly competitive mid-table.

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