It was a day of comprehensive wins in Group A, with Spain and Italy beating Gibraltar and Germany respectively.

In the match played at King Williams College, Spain batted first after Gibraltar won the toss. It initially looked to be a fantastic decision by Gibraltar, as the two Spanish openers were back in the pavilion with no runs on the board.

Spain were soon 27-5, with Matthew Hunter taking four of the wickets to fall. But a 95 run partnership for the sixth wicket between captain Joel Brook and Charles Cook got Spain back into the game, before Cook was out for 51, scored from 49 balls.

Brook stayed in to the end of the Spanish innings, and was unbeaten on 82 when the last wicket fell with the score on 182. Matthew Hunter was the pick of the bowlers with 5-22, whilst Guy Dumas also chipped in with 3-29.

Gibraltar's reply started similarly badly, losing their first six wickets for just 43. The seventh wicket partnership put on 33, but there was to be no comeback for Gibraltar, and they were bowled out for 97 to lose by 85 runs.

Jake Sunderland was the pick of the Spanish bowlers with 4-16, with Tom Vine polishing off the Gibraltar tail to end with 3-31.

At Cronkbourne, Italian captain Roshendra Abeywickrama won the toss and said he wanted to bat. He certainly did want a bat too, playing a chanceless innings to make the tournament's first century.

He put on 95 for the first wicket with Abdul Buyan, who scored 39. Abeywickrama remained totally in command for the rest of the innings, scoring 156 from 154 balls before he was eventually out in 49th over.

That opening pair were the only real run scorers though, with the remaining nine only scoring 42 between them, with the remaining runs coming in extras. Mansor Mubarik was the pick of the German bowlers with 4-46.

Faced with a big target, Germany struggled in reply. The Italians fielded enthusiastically, Alamin Mia and Jakub Perat taking three wickets each. Only two German batsmen got a start, with both Steven Richards and Tushar Marwaha both scoring 25.

Germany were bowled out for just 116, losing by 171 runs.

The two matches in Group A tomorrow will see the hosts in action for the first time, playing Gibraltar, and the two winners of today's matches playing each other.