ICC/CricketEurope

---

Belgium made sure of third place in the morning match at Rastignano, repeating their opening-day victory over Germany .

This time they won the toss and elected to bat, and despite an improved performance by the German bowlers, for whom Haras Mubarik, Tushar Marwaha and Chase Edwards all showed improved command of line and length, they reached 229 for nine off their 35 overs.

Marwaha secured the first breakthrough by bowling Jonathan Aron with only 5 on the board, and although Fraser McRae and Shamin Shah added 49 for the second wicket, it took a well-organised innings of 48 from Robert Sehmi, made from 46 deliveries with eight fours, to lay the foundation for a total in excess of 200.

Bowlers and fielders again found the going tough in the heat, and once Marwaha had finished his spell with four for 27 the later Belgian batsmen chipped in with some useful scores, Shalin Shah making 27 from 21 deliveries and Sach Bhansali 28 from 19.

Edwards was again amongst the wickets as well, picking up three for 48.

The German batsmen then found the Belgian seamers a good deal too sharp for their taste, and runs proved hard to come by as Josh Emerson picked up two wickets, Viral Kothari three and Naman Parikh three as Germany collapsed to 29 for six and then to 52 for eight.

Leonhard Gerhards, who had adopted a policy of almost unremitting defence against the Isle of Man in Thursday’s semi-final, revealed another side to his character here, playing a series of aggressive strokes in top-scoring with a 29-ball 28 and doubling the score for the last three wickets.

But the end came when, with the total on 82, he holed out to Aron off the second delivery from Paul Scarlett, giving Belgium a crushing 147-run winning margin.

Kothari finished with three for 8, Naman Parikh (the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 15) three for 13, and Emerson two for 17.

At Bologna, Gibraltar avoided the wooden spoon when they comfortably defeated Israel by seven wickets.

Once again Kayron Stagno proved to be the match winner for Gibraltar, as he smashed an incredible unbeaten 52 from just 16 balls, hitting 44 in boundaries (5 fours, 4 sixes). Clearly he didn't fancy running too much in the gruelling heat!

Julian Freyone (18*), Ivan Gomez (19), and Simon Dumas (12) were the other Gibraltarians who reached double figures, as they passed the Israel score of 128 for the loss of just three wickets in 17 overs.

In the Israeli total of 128 all out, the star performer was Bar Mesika who hit 8 boundaries in his 37 from just 35 balls - the highest Israeli individual total of the week.

Guy Admon and Eitan Halabi both made unlucky 13, but once again extras, with 42 was the highest contributor.

Dylan Casciaro (5-12) recorded the best bowling figures of the tournament, while Stagno (2-22), Simon Dumas (1-2), and Andrew Quinn (1-13) were the other wicket takers.

The closest game of the week came in the Alps derby between Switzerland and France, with Les Francais emerging victorious by just 18 runs.

A late order rally rescued the French from a precarious 51 for 5, with Ammar Zahir smashing 7 fours and 1 six in his 35 ball score of 45.

He was given good support by Fahad Latif (31), Sebastian Field (14), and Sam Evely (13), as they posted an impressive 173 all out in their 30 overs.

Merrennage Fernando (3-18), Jakob Andrews (2-22) and George Gaillet (2-22) starred with the ball, while Luca Illien (1-27), Joseph Boucher (1-23), Nicholas Mayo (1-13) were the other wicket takers.

In reply, despite the best efforts of skipper James Hadden who hit 8 boundaries in his 46 ball score of 44, the Swiss fell just short.

Luca Illien made 22, but took 73 balls, and in an abbreviated 30 over game, that was to prove too costly. His opening partner Fernando also made 22, but from 59 balls less, hitting two sixes and the same number of fours.

Sam Evely (2-29) again impressed with the new ball, while Asad Parvez (2-22), Sebastian Field (2-33) and Ammar Zahir (1-29) did enough to secure the 18 run win.