AT KGV, France beat Israel by 66 runs

France 271/9 (48.3 overs, Arun Ayyavooraju 78, J Houghton 38, Ramesh Sithambaranathan 34, Shahid Malik 32, Usman Khan 30, Ali Akbar 21, Steven Shein 3-45, Eliezer Samson 2-36) beat Israel 206/10 (49.3 overs, D Hyman 50, Herschel Gutman 25, Shailesh Bangerra 24, Gabreil Schachat 21, Rameez Ihsan 3-36, Shabbir Hussain 2-9) by 65 runs.

France defeated Israel by 65 runs in a high scoring encounter on an excellent batting track at KGV.

Having won the toss France elected to bat, and their captain's decision was quickly vindicated by an opening stand of 89 in 14 overs between Arun Ayyavooraju and Ramesh Sithambaranathan (34).

Arun has been in scintillating form this week, and his excellent run continued as he top scored with 78 from 98 balls, hitting 9 boundaries.

He received excellent support from a very solid French batting line up, with notable contributions from Jonathan Houghton (38), Shahid Malik (32), and Usman Khan (30).

The only downside to the French total of 271 was a knee injury to Houghton which looks set to rule him out of the rest of the tournament.

Best with the ball for Israel were Steven Shein (3-45), and Eliezer Samson (2-36).

In reply, Israeli opener Daniel Hyman enetertained the large crowd with a superb half century, but despite useful cameos from Herschel Gutman (25), wicket-keeper Shailesh Bangerra (24), and Gabriel Schachat (21), Israel were always off the required pace.

In the end they fell 65 runs short, with Rameez Ihsan (3-36) and Shabbir Hussain (2-9) the best of the French attack.

France now have a chance to blow the championship race wide open when they face unbeaten Guernsey at Port Soif tomorrow.