Guernsey secured a strong, six-wicket victory over Denmark to win the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Sub-Regional Qualifier C at King George V Sports Ground in Castel on Wednesday. This win means that Guernsey will now join Italy, Jersey, Netherlands and Scotland in next summer’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier.
Denmark posted a competitive 158/7 in their 20 overs after being asked to bat first. Number six batter, Nicolaj Laegsgaard took charge of the struggling batting line-up, smashing 62 runs from 35 balls, including six sixes and two boundaries, ensuring the hosts had a solid target to chase.
Charlie Forshaw (2/35) and Martin-Dale Bradley (2/35) were the main wicket-takers, accounting for most of the top and middle orders, with Bradley getting the all-important wicket of Laegsgaard at the end of the 18th over.
Guernsey reached their target with eight balls to spare thanks to Player of the Match, Matthew Stokes’ half-century (67 from 44 balls) in the middle overs and opener, Josh Butler’s (43 off 29 balls) flying start at the top. Captain, Ollie Nightingale added 23 vital runs (off 18 balls), giving his side a good win in the end.
Nightingale said: “We’re pleased with how we have performed as a team during this event. To bounce back from the earlier defeat in the group stage showed great character, and in the final we stuck to our game plan to knock off the runs quite comfortably.
Looking ahead to next year’s Europe Qualifier, we know we will be coming up against tougher opposition and a higher standard of cricket than we are used to, but we have a winter of training ahead, and we’ll see what we can do next summer.”
In other news, Spain claimed a comprehensive win over Finland for the overall third-place finish. A strong batting performance by Yasir Ali (52 off 40 balls), Hamza Saleem Dar (44 off 27 balls) and Mohammad Ihsan (33 off 23 balls) saw them finish their innings with 172/6 despite Finland’s Nicholas Salonen’s 4/45.
Spain’s Charlie Rumistrwewicz was the chief wicket-taker, claiming an excellent five wickets for 18 runs to restrict Finland to 126/7 at the end of their 20 overs.
Andy Wright, ICC Regional Development Manager – Europe said: “Congratulations to Guernsey Cricket, both for qualifying for the 2025 Europe Qualifier and on hosting such a great event this week. This tournament was one of the most competitive we have witnessed at this level, with all 10 teams displaying some excellent cricket.
The final between Guernsey and Denmark was a fitting end to a wonderful summer of Men’s Sub-Regional Qualification and a great advert for European cricket to those watching around the world.”
Denmark’s Hamid Shah received the Player of the Tournament award after scoring 272 runs in four innings.
