Denmark have won the European Under-19 Division Two Championship after beating the Isle of Man in the final at King William's College today.
There was worry when the officials arrived at King William's College this morning for the final of the European Under-19 Division Two championship to find a damp patch on the pitch right on a good length.
A heavily shortened game was feared, but some sterling work from the ground staff enabled play to start at 12:45, with the match only being reduced to 46 overs. The game got started in rather foggy conditions, with Denmark opting to bat first after winning the toss.
The sun eventually came out, with the hosts enjoying some significant local support, and that support inspired the hosts early on, and they had Denmark struggling on 80-5 after 20 overs, with Alex Stokoe taking three of those early wickets.
Denmark never really recovered, struggling against the Manx spinners in what was by far their toughest test so far in the tournament. They were eventually dismissed almost an hour before the scheduled lunch interval for 140, Sebastian Aycock being the pick of the bowlers with 3-24.
The Isle of Man reply got off to a terrible start, losing their first two wickets with no runs on the board, and the third with just two scored. They recovered from that point to reach 23-3 from 11 overs, at which point lunch was called, but they were still in a rather perilous position.
After the lunch interval, the Isle of Man managed to bat out the tricky first couple of overs, but lost two more wickets soon after, and were on the back foot at 45-5 from 20 overs. They never got back into the game from that point, and were bowled out for 80, losing by 60 runs.
Denmark will now play in the next European Under-19 Division One tournament, where they will come up against Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, Jersey and Guernsey.