Cyprus threw the battle in Group B wide open on Wednesday afternoon by beating the previously undefeated Swedes by seven wickets at Ropa Valley No. 1. The result leaves the Isle of Man and Sweden level on three wins and a loss with one match to play, with Finland two points behind and with a game in hand.

In Group A, meanwhile, Israel retained their unbeaten record with a convincing six-wicket victory over their nearest rivals, Spain, guaranteeing their place in the semi-finals.

After Cypriot skipper Michalis Kyriacou secured an early breakthrough Nimal Duralayage put the Swedes firmly on the back foot by ripping through the top order, finishing with three for 26, and at 42 for four Sweden were in real difficulty for the first time in the tournament.

Chris Tebbutt responded with a 33-ball knock of 31, but then Niroshan Pelawattha finished off the tail as Sweden were dismissed for 125 in 18.2 overs. Pelawattha ‘s three for 22 from just 14 deliveries was icing on the cake from a Cypriot point of view.

Khalid Ahmad quickly removed Syed Hussain when Cyprus replied, but a stand of 87 between Muhammad Tahir Mohsin (49 from 39 deliveries with three fours and three sixes) and Gurbhej Singh took the game away from Sweden, and although Mohsin was eventually caught behind off Khalid Ahmad, by that time only two runs were needed for victory.

Pelawattha settled the issue with a boundary, leaving Gurbhej Singh not out on 41, made from 36 deliveries with five fours and a six.

Also in Group B, Hellas bounced back from a disappointing start to their competition with a crushing 10-wicket victory over Croatia at Ropa Valley No. 2 ground.

The hosts restricted their opponents to 129 for five, despite a steady 59-ball 50 from Croatian captain John Vujnovich and a much more aggressive 47, made from 28 deliveries with six fours and two sixes, by Nikola Davidović. The new-ball pairing of Zois Ntemsias and Dimitrios Triantafillidis was especially effective, conceding just 17 and 15 runs respectively.

The Greek openers, Aslam Mohammad and Anastasios Manousis, were untroubled in knocking off the runs, and their unbroken stand of 130 was the second highest of the tournament so far. Aslam was the more circumspect, reaching 46 from 51 deliveries with five boundaries, while Manousis struck three fours and four sixes in his 55-ball 71.

Israel produced another fine performance to go clear at the top of the Group A table, and their match at the Marina ground was one worthy of the two leading sides in the group.

Spain's top order all contributed to a reasonably challenging total of 142 for six, James Morgan top-scoring with 37. Yesterday's batting hero, Tariq Ali, only made 18, but fellow opener Armaghan Khan chipped in with 33, Christopher Muñoz-Mills made 24, and Tanvir Iqbal 23.

Herschel Gutman and Danny Hyman then gave Israel a great start with an opening partnership of 60 before Armaghan Khan dismissed Hyman for 42, and then Gutman and John Evans put on another 63 for the third wicket. Tanvir Iqbal briefly raised Spanish hopes by trapping Evans (34 from 24 balls) and Gabi Schachat with successive deliveries, but Gutman was still there, and he and Danny Hotz saw their side home with seven balls to spare.

Gutman finished with a run-a-ball 43 not out, while Tanvir Iqbal and Armaghan Khan both took two for 21 for Spain.
Estonia recorded their second comprehensive victory of the day as they defeated Malta by 56 runs at Messonghi. With Malta's middle order failing they were never in with a realistic chance of chasing down Estonia's total of 184 for three wickets.

Having won the toss, Estonia batted first and their openers put on 42 before Karel van Buuren was caught by Nowell Khosla. His partner Nand Lal Riar was already producing some aggressive hitting and went on to strike seven sixes in an innings of 71 from 46 balls faced. When he was out with the score on 105, Tim Filer then took over the striking role and cleared the ropes four times in an unbeaten knock of 68 from just 36 balls.

Malta began their innings intending to go after the bowling but they had lost both openers by the end of the fourth over. Although Ronnie Sacco, Frankie Spiteri and Derek Ali all got into double figures none was able to go on to make the big score that was necessary. Wickets fell at regular intervals against a disciplined Estonian bowling attack which shared the wickets.

Malta will look back on a lot of catches that really ought to have been taken – indeed Riar should have been dismissed off the first ball of the match.