In this week’s Eurowrap, a winner was crowned in Jersey as a number of leagues around the continent reach the business end.
Jersey
Old Victorians won the Jersey 40-over championship at FB Fields on Saturday, beating Walkovers by five wickets to overtake Farmers Caesareans and clinch their second successive title.
After winning the toss Walkovers surpassed their season’s best total by one run as they posted 231 for seven, Nat Watkins top-scoring with 56 and giving his side a great start with a solid opening stand with Robin Carnegie (37).
Useful contributions from Jonathan Gough (34) and Farhat Khatri (33) gave the bottom-of-the-table side a fighting chance of registering a first win and denying their opponents the title, while Ben Le Gallais took three for 40 for the Old Boys and Xavier Barette two for 38.
Elliot Corbel (60) and Jamie Watling (45) topped the Walkovers’ start with a stand of over a hundred, and then skipper Luke Gallichan took over with an unbeaten, 47-ball 59 to see his side home with 13 deliveries to spare, although Carnegie did his best with three for 26 to put Old Victorians under some pressure.
Bogliasco stake a claim in Italian championship
A profitable double weekend, with victories over Milan United and Cantù, put Bogliasco in a strong position to qualify from Group B in the Italian 50-over championship, behind unbeaten Bergamo.
The group leaders maintained their record with a thrilling two-wicket victory over Milan United, who had lost by a thumping 169 runs to Bogliasco the previous day, while the latter’s second win of the weekend came from a comfortable 7-wicket victory over Cantù.
In a closely-contested Group A Fresh Tropical kept their hopes alive by beating Milan Kingsgrove by three wickets, and Albano, having posted 330, bowled Torino out for 191 to win by 139 runs.
Kings XI made it five wins out of five in Group C without having to take the field, Cividate forfeiting their scheduled match, and Janjua Brescia kept up their claim to second place by beating Bergamo United by making 347 for nine and winning by 112 runs.
Brescia and Cricket Stars look set to go through from Group D, the former cruising to a 6-wicket victory over Royal Parma and the latter winning a low-scoring game against Bologna by 39 runs.
There was another forfeit in Group E, Lonigo conceding the points to Padova, while Jinnah Brescia kept pace with the Paduans with a 7-wicket defeat of Royal Padova.
Baracca Prato just squeezed home in the only match in Group F, Lucca falling just eight runs short in their pursuit of Baracca’s total of 224, while in Group G Napoli’s massive 446 all out enabled them to beat Lux Roma by an equally-massive 312 runs and Asian Latina skittled Capannelle for 89 to win by 117 runs.
Leaders Roma beat local rivals Royal Roma by 64 runs in Group H, while Kent Lanka had a 7-wicket victory over Rome Bangla.
Prague stay unbeaten in tight finish
Leaders Prague CC maintained their unbeaten record with a win over Prague Bohemians at the Scott Page Field in Vinoř on Sunday, but they had to battle all the way to do it.
Chasing the Bohemians’ 213 all out, to which Sabawoon Davizi contributed 59 and Sazib Bhuiyan 65, with Ali Hassan Sittar taking three for 33, Prague were 150 for eight at one stage, still 54 runs short, and it took a spirited knock of 42 not out from Suditha Udugalage, dominating a ninth-wicket stand with Tom Hodgson, to get them home by two wickets with four deliveries to spare.
Second-placed Vinohrady were not in action over the weekend, but Brno missed a chance to stay in touch with the leaders by losing to Prague Barbarians on Saturday.
Murali Sai’s five for 31 and Piyush Kumar’s four for 22 enabled the Barbarians to dismiss their opponents for 196, and then an unbeaten 104 by opener Divyendra Singh saw his side to a 6-wicket victory in just 34.2 overs.
Cricket Tigers stay top in Austria
Austrian Cricket Tigers stayed clear at the top of the 20-over championship with a 10-run win over Indian CC Vienna at Seebarn on Saturday, as Vienna Afghan’s challenge faltered in a hard-fought encounter with Vienna CC on Sunday.
Aqib Iqbal’s 47-ball 61 was the basis of the Tigers’ total of 151 for seven, Kunal Joshi taking three for 27 for the Indians, and although Joshi (41) and Mehar Cheema (63) put on 108 for the first wicket in reply, the side fell just short in their chase despite having plenty of wickets in hand.
Amanullah Ahmadzai’s 71 from 50 deliveries helped the Afghan side to 176 for eight against Vienna, and at 88 for four Vienna were in considerable difficulty in reply.
But then Gorban Ali took matters in hand with a 37-ball 62, and with Wali Shenwari making 37 from 18 Vienna were able to score the winning run from the final delivery of their 20 overs to win by four wickets.
In other matches Afghan Steiermark beat the United Nations CC by 27 runs at the Ballpark Graz, while the second match of the day was abandoned after Sub-Continent Graz had posted 136 for eight against the United Nations.
All to play for in Oslo
As the group phase approaches its climax all four pools remain full of interest, only MASK A in Group C still retaining a perfect record with eight wins out of eight.
They had a vital win on Sunday, beating nearest rivals Vestli B by seven wickets; Falak Sher Raza claimed five for 14 as Vestli were dismissed for 113, and it was the allrounder’s 44 not out, supported by 35 from Rohit Kaplis, which saw MASK home by seven wickets.
Group A remains extremely open, with two wins for Bjørvika over the weekend, the more significant of them by four wickets over Sinsen A in a high-scoring game, bringing them level with Star, who lost by three wickets to City A.
Afaq Khan made 69 for Sinsen while Waseem Abbas took five for 46 for Bjørvika, but it was a remarkable 34-ball 88 not out from Usman Arif, who hit no fewer than ten sixes, which ensured that Bjørvika chased down Sinsen’s 191 for eight by four wickets with eleven balls to spare.
Sinsen A, City A and Friends are all one win behind the two leaders, City having two games in hand and the other two one.
Group B leaders Sentrum S A lost to Oslo A on Saturday but recovered to beat Fjord B the following day, while Klemetsrud consolidated their second spot with a 34-run victory over Nord A.
Nittedal moved clear of MASK B in Group D by beating City B by seven wickets; City’s 123 for two, of which Ahmed Danish contributed 45 and Ijaz Ahmad 51 not out, proved to be insufficient as Akash Jagtap’s 38 and Sameep Jangir’s unbeaten 49 saw them home with three overs in hand.
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