Sweden opening their campaign at the Marina ground on Monday afternoon, and denied the Isle of Man a second victory of the day with a convincing five-wicket victory. A brilliant display of boundary hitting by Christopher Tebbutt and Yasir Ikram saw them pass the Isle of Man's total of 136 with eleven balls to spare.

Once again the Isle of Man openers, Max Stokoe and Gareth Morris, got their side off to a sound start with a partnership of 53 which was ended when Sandeep Sharma caught Morris in the eighth over. However, the next seven overs produced only 35 runs as Sandeep and Azam Khalil combined to slow the scoring rate with some accurate slow bowling.

That the Isle of Man reached a final total of 136 was due to some late boundaries from Gareth Dawson and Garreth Roome. Best of the Swedish bowlers was Azam Khalil with three for 21.

Shahid Mustafa and Naveed Anjum got Sweden off to a fast start but then both fell in quick succession. When Ashik Imtiaz was leg before to Roome, Sweden were in some trouble at 31 for three.

That brought Tebbutt to the wicket, however, to play what was to be the match-winning innings. He and Sunny Sharma took the score to 65 in the 11th over before Sharma was caught at mid off by Dawson.

Yasir Ikram announced himself with a six from his first ball and 18 in all from that over. Tebbutt then took over with a series of magnificent shots and when he was bowled, just two short of victory, he had made 57 from 44 balls, including seven fours and two sixes.

Meanwhile in the Ropa Valley, Luxembourg and promoted side Estonia fought hard to defend low totals against Israel and Portugal respectively, and both gave their opponents a serious scare before finally succumbing.

On the No. 1 ground, Luxembourg tried a different strategy after their bowlers had taken a pounding from the Spanish batsmen in the morning game, and Tony Whiteman elected to bat first on winning the toss.

It was a decision he soon had cause to regret, as Israel's new-ball attack of Gerrit Grundling and Herschel Gutman was quickly on top, reducing the Luxembourgeois to 15 for four almost before they had time to draw breath. Grundling finished with the remarkable figures of two for 3 from four overs, and only Taral Desai showed any sign of mastering the bowling, making a 37-ball 36 which included four fours and two sixes.

He and James Barker put on 34 in a vital sixth-wicket stand which held up Israel's progress, and by the time Barker was ninth out the total had progressed to 81. Josh Evans also produced a good spell for the Israelis, taking two for 22 from his four overs.

But the final score of 88 for nine fell well short of what seemed likely to be necessary, and Gutman and Daniel Hyman began their chase confidently. Richard Neale secured the breakthrough, however, removing both Hyman and Evans, and when Madhu Ramachandran dismissed Eshkol Solomon, and soon afterwards Gutman, while Chris Evans accounted for Raymond Aston, the Israeli innings was faltering on 40 for five.

Danny Hotz and Yaniv Razpurker put their side back on track with a useful little stand of 28 for the sixth wicket, but when the former was run out by James Barker the pressure went back on. But Razpurker was not to be denied and he and Yefeth Nagavkar saw their side home with more than three overs to spare.

Next door on the No. 2 ground, Estonia had a tough welcome to Division 2 cricket when opener Moshiur Rahman was caught by Portuguese keeper Rizwan Khaliq off Zafar Ali's initial delivery of the match.

Tim Filer followed soon afterwards, and when captain Timothy Heath went without scoring the Estonians found themselves struggling on 15 for three. They, too, were partially rescued by a fifth-wicket stand of 47 between Murali Obili (25) and Marko Vaik (13), and with Sivalingam Arunachalam contributing an unbeaten 22 they managed to get the total up to 115 for eight.

Muhammad Mirza was the main wicket-taker for Portugal with four for 21, while there were two wickets apiece for Zafar Ali and Ricardo Pais.

Nadeem Butt and Tariq Aziz got the Portuguese reply off to a good start with an opening stand of 32, but the Estonian bowlers, backed up by enthusiastic fielding, maintained a good discipline, and with Moshiur Rahman taking three for 21, including the wicket of Butt for 30, Portugal did not have it all their own way.

It was Pais who made the difference, playing a crucial innings of 35, from 26 deliveries with two fours and two sixes, and by the time he was fifth out the Portuguese only needed another six runs for victory.

Still, the overs were beginning to run out, and there were only three balls to spare when Zafar Ali hit the six which gave his side the win.