At Port Soif, Norway beat Gibraltar by 3 wickets.

Gibraltar 189/6 (50 overs, M Bacarese 74*, Kabir Mirpuri 34*, Zaheer Ashiq 2-9, Mofassar Saeed 2-21) lost to Norway 193/7 (44.1 overs, Shahbaz Butt 70*, Shahid Mahmood 21, Aziz Ataul 20*, Kabir Mirpuri 3-19, Karan Sadhwani 2-45) by three wickets.

An unbroken 8th wicket partnership of 71 between Shahbaz Butt and Aziz Ataul led Norway to a three wicket win over Gibraltar at Port Soif

Butt made a quite superb 70 from just 88 balls, striking no fewer than eight fours, displaying a fine range of shots all round the ground.

He found the perfect foil in the experienced Ataul, who kept his composure making a patient unbeaten 20 to help his side get back in the championship title race, as they overhauled the Gibraltar total of 189 with 5.5 overs to spare.

Earlier an excellent spell from Kabir Mirpuri (3-19) had Norway in all sorts of trouble at 122 for 7 - Karan Sadhwani also bowling well to claim figures of 2 for 45.

Earlier in the day it had been a similar story when Gibraltar batted - Zahher Ashiq (2-9) and Mofassar Saeed (2-21) had the island side in all sorts of difficulties at 94 for 6.

However Mark Bacarese with an unbeaten 74 from 127 deliveries (8 fours) and Kabir Mirpuri with 34 not out, added an unbroken 95 for the 7th wicket, to take Gibraltar to a competitive 189 for 6.

Norway face Germany tomorrow in a crucial encounter at KGV, while Gibraltar will seek their first win against Israel at College Field.