Eurowrap: Jersey’s women win in France, while Finland’s men give Denmark a fright

There were notable international events in Europe this weekend, with the conclusion of a four-team women’s tournament at Dreux and a three-match T20 International series between Denmark and Finland in Copenhagen.

Jersey won the women’s event, going through the week undefeated and beating hosts France by six wickets in the final.

Chasing France’s 125 for five, to which Poppy McGeown contributed an unbeaten 50, Jersey were in trouble at 33 for four, but were rescued by Charlotte Miles (33 not out) and Trinity Smith (56 not out from 40 deliveries); it was Smith’s second half-century of the tournament, since she had similarly  rescued her side when they lost early wickets against Spain, combining with Mia Maguire on that occasion to get them from 56 for four to 175 for four.

In the play-off for third place Austria beat Spain by 48 runs, thanks in large part to 49 from Mallika Pathirnannehelage, whose five for 16 had earlier been instrumental in her side’s victory over the same opponents in the round robin phase.

Finland shocked their hosts in Saturday’s opening T20I at Svanholm, restricting them to 137 for seven and then chasing it down to win by three wickets, Peter Gallagher finishing the game off with 18 not out from just five deliveries.

But Denmark came back with a vengeance in the second game, Hamid Shah’s 52 and Taranjeet Singh’s 55 helping them to 170 for five before the Finns collapsed to 33 all out in 13 overs, with Jino Jojo, Saif Ali Ahmed, Omar Hayat and Lucky Ali Malik all picking up a brace of wickets.

The hosts were again too strong on Sunday, when Hamid Shah had the distinction of becoming the first batter to be run out on 99 in a T20I, but his 68-ball innings enabled Denmark to reach 162 for four, and despite another hard-hitting cameo from Gallagher, with 34 not out from 20 deliveries, Finland could only manage 109 for eight, Abdullah Mahmood claiming four for 12.

In the Premier 40 in Jersey, 50 from Sam Dewhurst and 60 from Corey Bisson saw Old Victorians to 233 for seven against the Walkovers at FB Fields, and although Robin Carnigie (64) and Sam Gott (51) gave the latter a decent start with an opening partnership of 97, the Walkovers could only reach 204 for five in reply.

At Farmers Field on Sunday Farmers Caesareans had an easy victory over the Under-19s: Joel Richardson took three for 11 and Zac Tribe three for 25 as the youngsters were dismissed for 148 (ER Rothwell 51), and then Asa Tribe weighed in with an unbeaten 73 as the home side reached their target in just 21.5 overs for the loss of one wicket.

Italy’s T20 Championship is now in full swing, with plenty of matches played on the third weekend of competition.

The three leading sides in a tightly-contested Group A, Royal Bergamo, Albano and Bergamo, stayed abreast of one another with double victories over Pavia Eagles, Bergamo Super XI and Cividate respectively, while in Group B Milan United beat leaders Bogliasco twice.

Janjua Brescia and Brescia kept up the pace in Group C with two wins apiece against Bassano Brescia and Pioltello, but in Group D Kings XI had to be content with sharing the points with Pianoro; in Group E, similarly, leaders Lonigo won one and lost one against Venezia, while Padova gained ground with two wins over Kings Verona.

In Group F leaders Lucca United’s matches against Pakhtoons Marche were cancelled, but Ancona shared the points with Corridonia and Lucca had similarly mixed results against Baracco Prato.

Top-of-the-group Rome Bangla were not engaged in Group G, Royal Roma and Napoli taking a game apiece, while in Group H Lux Roma and Roma both had double victories over hapless Unime and Kent Lanka won two hard-fought matches against Asian Latina.

One of the most remarkable efforts anywhere on the Continent came at Geneva’s Bout-du-Monde ground, where Waseem Javid (157 not out from 63 deliveries) and Arjun Vinod (105 not out from 45) piled on 260 for Cossonay’s second wicket in a Swiss Pickwick Cup T20 match against Geneva Sri Lankan; Cossonay finished on 281 for two and dismissed their opponents for 104.

The Sri Lankans had earlier lost to Geneva by eight wickets, while 53 from Salman Sharifi ensured a win for Berne over Geneva Stars, despite Jawad Naseem’s 63 in a losing cause.

Meanwhile in the 40-over National League, Kuldeep Rawat made 123 for Geneva International to see them to a 60-run victory over CERN in the Western Division, while in the Central Division Zug CC beat Basel by 59 runs and Wettingen had a 22-run victory over CV Zug.

Another outstanding batting performance was Khizar Ali’s 76-ball 168 for Minhaj against Pak Youngsters in Spain’s Liga Catalana, which included 12 fours and 14 sixes; Minhaj finished on 325 for nine off 30 overs, and dismissed their opponents for 204.

Elsewhere there were wins for Pak I Care Badalona, for whom Muhammad Ihsan made 120, over Hawks; XI Stars against Sabadell Hira; Lleida Tigers against Barna Royals; and Catalunya against Viladecans Tigers.

In the Czech Republic, Prague Bohemians moved to the top of Division I of the T20 league with victories over Prague Spartans’ Mobilizers on Saturday and Prague Barbarians the following day; Zahid Mahmood was in great form with the bat, making 53 in the first game and 71 in the second, both times at better than a run a ball.

Brno, meanwhile, maintained their unbeaten record (admittedly from only two matches) with a shock win against Prague CC: defending 128 for eight, they bowled the defending champions out for just 88, Arun Vasudevan taking four for 6 in 3.1 overs and Sandeep Tiwari three for 17.

In the remaining match the Spartans’ Vanguards had a five-wicket victory over Vinohrady.

Iceland’s T20 league got under way with Vesturbær beating Hafnafjörður by four wickets, while in Luxembourg Star dismissed the Warriors for 63, winning by eight wickets.

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