ICC/CricketEurope

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Spain staked a solid claim to second place on the Group B table at JHQ1 on Wednesday with a commanding win over Switzerland, while Gibraltar were scarcely less troubled in defeating Hellas in a windswept match at Bochum.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, Spain soon lost Ben Taylor, bowled by Ali Saleem with the total on 11, but that was to be Switzerland’s last success for a long time as Joel Brook and Michael Garside put on 99 for the second wicket.

Brook was eventually out for 39, but Garside went on to complete an excellent half-century, making 51 from just 42 balls with six boundaries.

Once he had gone, Christian Muñoz-Mills and Matthew Winter batted through to the end of the innings, adding 113 in an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership. Muñoz-Mills finished on 68, made from 65 balls, and Winter with 44 from 39.

It was soon clear that the Swiss batsmen had no effective answer to the Spanish bowlers, and wickets fell steadily as the Swiss battled their way past the hundred, assisted by another plethora of wides.

Muñoz-Mills used nine bowlers – everyone except himself and the wicketkeeper – but Switzerland might regard it as a small triumph that they avoided being bowled out. They were 126 runs short at the end, however, with Jake Sunderland, Winter and Thomas Foster picking up two wickets each for Spain.

Gibraltar dismissed Hellas for 112 in 34.5 overs in Bochum, only 39 of them coming from the bat and Spiros Kawadias top-scoring with 12.

Matthew Hunter was the most successful of the Gibraltar bowlers with three for 15, while Joss Hatcher and Scott Chipolina took two each.

Chipolina then led the way with 25 when Gibraltar replied, and Hatcher finished off the match in double-quick time, smashing 22 from just 6 balls, including three sixes, as Gibraltar won by eight wickets.

Conditions were blustery throughout, leading the umpires to dispense with the bails, but the most severe damage was off the field, with one of the sightscreens and a tent being destroyed by gale-force winds.

Spain will now meet Gibraltar at JHQ2 tomorrow in a match which will decide second place in the group, while Belgium, virtually certain to finish top, will play Switzerland in Bonn.