ICC Europe/CricketEurope

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Belgium shocked the previously unbeaten Isle of Man in Antwerp on Saturday, claiming a thoroughly-deserved seven-wicket victory to move into second spot and give themselves a real chance of taking the title with a win over Italy on the same ground on Sunday.

The Italians stayed level on points with Belgium by defeating Germany, but their comparatively narrow margin of victory – just three wickets – put them behind the hosts on wicket run rate.

The Manxmen have now completed their programme of matches, and will have to wait and see whether their final WRR of 1.67 is good enough to hold off the winners of the Belgium-Italy match. With the Belgians currently on 1.45 and the Italians on 1.39, a convincing win by either could take them into the top position on the table.

For the sixth time in a row Max Stokoe won the toss for the Isle of Man, and followed his regular strategy of electing to bat first. Until now it has worked extremely well, with at least one of the top three, Jack Rowlands, the skipper himself, and his brother Alex making a significant score.

So well has it worked, indeed, that in 50-over matches the third wicket has fallen at 116, 179 and 186, and in Twenty20 games at 74 and 107. Against a varied Belgian attack, all three were dismissed by the time the total had reached 57, Shashank Kothari starting the process by removing Max Stokoe, spinner Shalin Shah then accounting for Rowlands, and left-arm seamer Shaival Mehta getting rid of Alex Stokoe.

That opened up the middle order, and with Shah claiming three more wickets to finish an excellent ten-over spell with figures of four for 20 and Mehta taking two for 22, the Manx were in deep trouble at 84 for eight.

Jacob Hicklin, who had come in at the fall of the third wicket, watched this collapse from the other end, and only when he was joined by keeper Adam Killey did he find a partner who could give him the necessary support. These two added a vital 61 for the ninth wicket, Hicklin eventually falling off the penultimate ball of the innings for a fine fighting 40, made off 115 deliveries.

The Belgians maintained the pressure well throughout, especially with their ground fielding, although the innings might have ended sooner had they held at least one of three chances that went down.

The Isle of Man could see their dreams of the title in danger of fading, and Daniel Hawke and Max Stokoe began the Belgian innings with some fine seam bowling, soon backed up by Alex Stokoe.

Belgian openers Sebastian Shukla and Shalin Shah weathered the storm, however, and after they were dismissed – a wicket each for the Stokoe brothers – Jamie Farmiloe and skipper Nirvam Shah put on 65 for the third wicket. Hampered by a damaged finger, Farmiloe began quietly, but he gradually went onto the attack, while his captain was in aggressive mode from the outset.

28 were still needed when Farmiloe, on 32, flashed at a widish Max Stokoe delivery and was caught behind, but Shah unleashed a series of powerful strokes to take his side to victory in the 34th over and his own score to 57 not out, made from just 48 balls with six fours and two sixes.

Italy needed to make sure of a victory against winless Germany to maintain the pressure on their rivals, but they made heavy weather of it, losing seven wickets as they chased a modest German total of 111.

The Germans had won the toss and elected to bat, and were soon in trouble when Roshendra Abeywickrama bowled Konrad Fuchs with the fourth ball of the match. Fuchs’ fellow-opener Reshuan Afzal was not cowed, however, and hit an extremely aggressive 56-ball 54, including six fours and three sixes – when he was fourth out, he had made nearly three-quarters of the German total of 76.

No-one else could cope with the wiles of Italy’s Abdur Rahaman Bhuiyan, and when he had bowled seven overs and taken four for 13 Abeywickrama returned to finish off the tail, ending with four for 18.

Italy reached 45 in reply before Abeywickrama was run out, followed soon afterwards by Lositha Kankanamage. Bhuiyan top-scored with 25, but when the seventh wicket fell at 99, with 13 still needed, a sensational upset seemed on the cards.

But Zain ul Abidin took his side to the brink of victory, and a trio of wides eventually finished the job.

The Italians will have to play with a lot more conviction, however, if they are to stand any chance of defeating Belgium and claiming the title.

In Brussels, France’s steadily improving week saw them post their second successive victory, this time against Gibraltar.

The Gibraltar batting was again unimpressive, only Scott Chipolina (21) and Bryan Zammitt (20) managing innings of any substance against a persistent French attack, in which spinner Jon Houghton claimed the best figures with three for 19. Tom Liddiard also bowled well, taking two for 12 in six overs.

Houghton then played a crucial innings in the French reply, opening the batting and seeing his side well past the half-way mark by the time he was fifth out with the total on 59. Progress was slow, however, with Gibraltar’s Robbie Skinner turning in a remarkable spell of spin bowling, taking four for 6 in ten overs, seven of them maidens.

When he finished his spell, though, the French were within four runs of victory, albeit with eight wickets down. Cameron Beauclerk and Ryan Cook saw them home with nearly fifteen overs to spare, and they are currently in fourth place in the table, just ahead of Israel on wicket run rate.

With France meeting Germany in a Twenty20 match in Sunday’s final round and Israel playing Gibraltar over fifty overs, it’s not only at the top of the table that anxious eyes will be cast towards events at other grounds.