Barry Chambers

Gibraltar took on France in the game played at Saintfield and what a topsy turvy struggle it proved. Having been put in France they scored 169 for 8 in their allotted overs. Philip Hudson, the left hander who doubles up as the Gibraltar Youth Development Officer, obviously practises what he preaches, as he top scored with 48. Skipper Christian Rocca (right) also led from the front as he hit 33, and Ian Farrell, Daniel Johnson and Johnathan Mather chipped in with double figure contributions. For France Javed Ijaz with 4 for 34 and Prakash Ayyavooraju with 2 for 13 were best with the ball.

France found it difficult early on against Johnathan Mather and Steve Cary who bowled tightly and picked up wickets along the way. However thanks to 56 from the young left hander Gareth Edwards they looked to be heading for victory. His dismissal at 108 for 4 saw a dramatic collapse which saw them lose their last 4 wickets for just 2 runs. Their total of 149 also included 22 from Peter Alexander and 19 from Guy Brumant. Best of the Gibraltar attack were Mather and Cary who took 3 wickets apiece.