Sweden made sure of the top spot in Group B with a comprehensive victory over winless Croatia in the final group match at the Marina, and were joined by the Isle of Man – despite their defeat at the hands of Finland in the morning's games – as a result of the outcome of the match at Messonghi between the Finns and Hellas.

In Group A, meanwhile, Israel maintained their unbeaten record by overhauling a competitive Estonian total of 154 for three to top the table, with Spain completing the semi-final line-up.

Hellas and Finland both went into their final group match with a chance of reaching the promotion play-offs. For Finland it was quite simple - win and a play-off place was secured; for Hellas it was much more complicated in that they had not only to win but also improve their net run rate by a considerable margin in order to better that of the Isle of Man.

In the end, neither team was to qualify as Hellas won the match but their margin of victory, 53 runs, was insufficient to bridge the run rate gap between them and the Manxmen.

Having been put in to bat, Hellas began slowly with just 15 runs coming off the first four overs for the loss of Manousis. However, Aslam Mohammad and Alexandros Souvlakis then set about the Finnish bowling in some style, scoring 114 runs from the next seven overs.

Souvlakis was dismissed immediately after reaching his fifty, while Aslam went on to make 80 before he was well caught by Zahidullah Kamal at cover. Between them they hit 13 sixes and 8 fours. Nik Pothas also played a cameo innings as Hellas went on to reach 211 for eight at the end of their 20 overs.

Finland dropped a number of catches which, if they had been taken, would have given them a less formidable target to chase. They had to be aggressive right from the start of their innings which, as often happens, led to a flurry of dismissals.

By the fifth over they had slumped to 26 for five against some pacey bowling from Dimitrios Triantafillidis and Zois Ntemsias. Although Ekhpelwak Kuchey made an impressive 54 and Madhu Bhandari showed some late resistance with an unbeaten 33, victory was always well out of their reach.

Pick of the Hellas bowlers was Triantafillidis who finished with the excellent figures of four for 29.

Sweden made short work of Croatia, bowling their opponents out for 63, 20 of which came from wides. Only captain John Vujnovich was able to reach double figures, with the Croatians contributing to their own misfortunes with three run-outs.

Khalid Ahmad and Aman Momand picked up two wickets apiece in economical spells, Khalid conceding 12 runs and Momand 15.

Sadat Sidiqi went after the Croatian bowlers from the outset of the Swedish reply, and with Shahid Mustafa in a supportive role the openers put on a rapid 32. Michael Grzinić eventually removed Mustafa, but Sidiqi continued in partnership with Sunny Sharma, and when the latter was dismissed by Josip Jukić only two runs were required for victory.

Sidiqi finished it off soon afterwards, finishing on 40 not out from 28 deliveries as Sweden won with almost nine overs to spare.

Batsmen dominated the clash between Israel and Estonia at Ropa No. 1, with Nand Lal Riar making a 34-ball 59 and sharing an opening stand of 57 with a patient Mart Tammoja, and Tim Filer making an unbeaten 48 as Estonia put on a creditable 154 for three.

Riar also caused the Israelis problems with the ball, snatching two quick wickets as Israel slumped to 7 for three. But Eshkol Solomon, who has been their most consistent batsman throughout the tournament, put on 55 with Gabi Schachat and 86 with Danny Hotz to turn the game around, and Israel reached their target with ten balls to spare and five wickets in hand.

Solomon finished with an undefeated 85, made from 52 deliveries with seven fours and two sixes, while Riar ended on two for 20 from his three overs.