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Legspinner Ming Li, who has played Twenty20s for Hong Kong, has signed with the Sydney Sixers as their community rookie for the 2015-16 season. Ming, 24, is a legspinner who honed his art by watching Youtube videos of Shane Warne, and his addition to the BBL community rookie programme has been hailed as a significant step.”This is one of the most exciting developments in Hong Kong Cricket history,” Tim Cutler, the CEO of the Hong Kong Cricket Association, said. “We do hope this is the start of a great relationship with the Sydney Sixers and New South Wales Cricket.”We believe this is the first time any Hong Kong sportsperson has participated in such an elite ‘franchise’ tournament and we can’t wait to see the positive effect Ming’s BBL involvement will have on the already rapid development within the growing Chinese cricket community.”With the Hong Kong team competing in next year’s ICC World Twenty20, it will not only give Ming a head start in preparations but also allow him an insight into some of the best players in T20 cricket.”The BBL community rookies are not officially part of the playing squad for the tournament, but can be elevated as a replacement player, as happened with Solomon Mire at the Melbourne Renegades two seasons ago.The aim of the community rookie programme is to provide opportunities for players who might not otherwise be identified by Australian cricket’s pathway programmes.

Omitting the pull and hook shots early in his innings was what Kane Williamson has said was the key to scoring the second-innings ton that saw his side to victory in the Hamilton Test.”All the guys like to play the pull, but like any shot, on some surfaces it’s important you try to select the right ball,” Williamson said. “I was a victim of that in the first innings as well, having played the pull shot a lot in previous games and thinking I could go out and do that again. I wanted to make sure I was sounder in my decision making in the second innings.”Day three of the match had seen 15 wickets fall to short deliveries as batsmen from both teams failed to contend with sustained bouncer barrages. Williamson scored the only hundred of the match, finishing on 108 not out, but was also the only batsman to cross 50 in the second innings.

Angelo Mathews on Williamson

“His innings was brilliant. It was controlled aggression. I thought he’s up there when it comes to the top-ten batters. He’s been having a great run for New Zealand in the last few years. He was batting well and we just couldn’t get him.”
“He’s surely going to break more records. He’s a tremendous player. At his age he can achieve a lot more than he has achieved right now. He’s really taken up the responsibility and is batting through the innings. That kind of a player is very valuable in the team.”

He occasionally utilised the pull in his second innings, but each of those shots were controlled, and generally played towards the ground. Williamson said he adjusted his batting plan after having been out hooking for one in his first dig.”I think in the first innings we didn’t adapt to the change in the surface and the extra bounce compared to Dunedin. The bounce was a bit variable – some stood up and some kissed through quickly and quite steep to make it more difficult. I wanted to take in a sound game plan to stick to. That meant initially going under the ball when it was hard and then, as it got softer, when the bowlers had a few overs under the belt, I’d look to play the pull bit more. It was important not to get carried away with the shot.”Williamson, who broke the New Zealand records for most centuries and runs in a calendar year — five and 1172 respectively — during his second-innings century, said it was pleasing to be recognised but stressed team success. His tally puts him at fifth for highest run-scorers in 2015 — behind Alastair Cook, Joe Root, David Warner and Steven Smith — though his average of 90.15 is more than 13 runs higher than that of any other batsman to have scored 400 runs. The innings at Hamilton comprised 57% of New Zealand’s fourth innings score of 189.”It’s always nice to get a score but it means more when you spend some time in the middle and make a larger contribution to a team performance,” Williamson said. “The wicket wasn’t easy to bat on. It wasn’t the biggest chase but it seemed some distance away because both teams came up with pretty sound bowling plans.”Williamson lauded the adaptability of New Zealand’s seam bowlers, who had largely bowled full in search of edges in the first innings. Nine of their second-innings wickets had come from the short ball, however, with the tenth being a run out, also partly caused by the use of a bouncer.”We’ve got good swing bowlers and guys that seam the ball, but to have to basically all of them come on the other side of the wicket and bowled short to execute a plan, was very good to see,” Williamson said. “It was different to all those Tests, certainly, that I’ve played. We had to adopt very different tactics. Sri Lanka bowled the short ball very well, and we certainly learnt from their efforts in our second innings in the field.”Dushmantha Chameera had been particularly effective for Sri Lanka with the bouncer, picking up his first five-wicket haul in the first innings, and taking 9 for 115 in the match.”Chameera’s a very talented bowler,” Williamson said. “Anyone that bowls with good pace is an asset to a side. Coming over here on slightly greener surfaces that we feel are suited to our bowlers, he bowled very well on them. I’m sure he will get a lot out of coming over here, playing in these conditions, and continue to improve.”

Having lost their captain, Chris Gayle, with a broken thumb and hamstring injury, West Indies are contemplating promoting Shivnarine Chanderpaul to No.3 in their bid to square the five-match one-day series against South Africa after losing the opening game at Centurion on Sunday.Speaking on the eve of the second game at Newlands, stand-in captain Dwayne Bravo said the new opening combination of Brenton Parchment and Devon Smith would be persisted with, with Chanderpaul moving one notch up the order, ahead of Marlon Samuels.”We need to get better starts at the top,” Bravo said after the team’s practice session on Thursday. “There might be a change in the order with Chanderpaul going up to No. 3 for more stability.”The top order failed to convert their starts at Centurion, losing half their side with the score on 72. Runako Morton and Darren Sammy led a late revival to lift the score to 175 in 36 overs but it wasn’t enough as South Africa coasted home with two overs to spare.Coach John Dyson also concurred with Bravo, he didn’t use the inexperience of the opening combination as an excuse, despite being up against bowler-friendly conditions. He said the newcomers in the squad should utilise this opportunity to step up and make the most of it if the conditions are more batting friendly.”[Sewnarine] Chattergoon’s played before, Parchment of course is brand new, and Devon will be looking at his tour so far and saying to himself, ‘I could have done better,’ ” Dyson said. “So whoever gets the job tomorrow, it’s got to be in their mind that this is an opportunity to cement their place in the squad.”West Indies will be boosted by the return of fast bowler Jerome Taylor, who batted and bowled in the nets after injuring his shoulder in the Twenty20 international in Johannesburg. It is uncertain, however, who he would replace as Sammy turned in a good performance with the bat to cover for his expensive spell of 1 for 57 in seven overs.Graeme Smith, the South African captain, said he was pleased to see the competition for places pushing his players to perform at their best. However, he touched upon the need to restrict the run scoring in the death overs. The bowlers couldn’t halt West Indies’ late revival at Centurion, with Morton and Sammy adding 69 for the seventh wicket.”We’ve bowled very well up until about ten overs to go, but I don’t think we’ve finished really well,” Smith said. “That’s something we’ve been discussing and working on.”I’d like to see guys really contributing in the last ten. If teams have got momentum going into the last five overs, it becomes difficult to pull it back.”South Africa will be forced to make a change, with allrounder Justin Ontong ruled out for the next two games with a knee injury. Smith said South Africa would probably go in with the same line-up which beat New Zealand at Newlands last month, with Herschelle Gibbs returning to open the innings and AB de Villiers dropping down to No.6. Offspinner Johan Botha is likely to replace Ontong.

ScorecardYorkshire, after threatening to lose to Nottinghamshire at their ownheadquarters, eventually fought their way through to a draw, thanks to thetenacity of their ninth-wicket pair of Tim Bresnan and Darren Gough, after somefeeble batting from their middle order. It was an intriguing final sessionafter a draw had seemed likely for most of the day.At start of play Darren Gough made an unusual but perceptive decision to open the bowling with leg-spinner Adil Rashid. The overnight batsman Stuart Broad, much less assured against spin than he had been against pace the previous day, was soon bamboozled and trapped lbw for 53. He had added 113 for the seventh wicket for the seventh wicket with Chris Read, who played himself in carefully, suggesting Nottighamshire were looking for a sizable lead.Mark Ealham was more intent on building that lead quickly, clubbing his first ball past mid-on for four, and running up a rapid 26 before hitting across a full toss and becoming a third successive lbw victim. Read was by now opening up; he lost Ryan Sidebottom, nudging Tim Bresnan weakly to the keeper, and then, with last man and renowned non-batsman Charlie Shreck at the crease, sent up a huge skyer which was eventually well held near mid-on by the bowler Bresnan. He departed for a highly creditable 142, and his team was now dismissed for 422, a lead of 123.Despite losing Joe Sayers, out of form, before lunch for 8, caught in the gully as Sidebottom finally took a long-overdue wicket, Yorkshire for a long time looked immune from defeat. Sidebottom and Shreck bowled well but did not look as lethal as during the first day. Michael Vaughan batted with caution but produced the occasional vintage drive, while Anthony McGrath provided his usual stabilising influence at number three.Vaughan would again rue his dismissal: he cut at a ball from Graeme Swann that was not quite wide enough for the stroke and dragged it on to his wicket for 34. Soon afterwards McGrath (43) was out caught behind hooking for the second time in the match, but with a teatime score of 127 for 3, four runs ahead, Yorkshire looked relatively safe.After the interval, however, the Yorkshire innings resembled the slow subsidence of the Titanic, rather than any dramatic collapse. Jacques Rudolph had again looked very sound, a no-frills batsman playing every ball on its merits, but perhaps he was too quick to assume that the match was safe when he went for his strokes after tea. With 32 to his credit, he played an indecisive shot outside the off stump to Sidebottom and was caught at the wicket.He was followed by a further three wickets in the next half-hour, more due to loose batting than inspired bowling, though Rashid was unlucky to flick a ball low and hard but straight to Adam Voges at backward short leg. Suddenly Yorkshire were up against the wall, and Tim Bresnan and Morne Morkel, the latter with a runner after his hamstring injury yesterday, found themselves unexpectedly having to dig in. At the start of the final hour the match was still in the balance, Yorkshire on 164 for 7, 41 runs ahead.An inspired bowling change saw Samit Patel come on and immediately have Morkelcaught in the leg trap for 8; 168 for 8. But Bresnan kept a mature head on his young shoulders (12 not out off 41 balls) and, aided by his skipper, saw Yorkshire through to safety. Gough had suffered a poor match until the end, but his last ditch captain’s innings was just what his team needed. With six overs remaining, three of which would have been lost to a change of innings, and Yorkshire 64 runs ahead, the teams shook hands.

Vidarbha slumped to their fifth-lowest score in Ranji Trophy history as Maharashtra bowled them out for 59 runs in Kolkata, on the back of Anupam Sanklecha’s career-best figures of 7 for 25.Shalabh Shrivastava top scored with 19, but with no other batsman reaching double figures. Sanklecha cleaned up the tail as they lost their last five wickets in the space of eight runs. In response, Maharashtra’s Naushad Shaikh scored his second-consecutive ton. He remained unbeaten on 111 with Ankit Bawne (75) as Maharashtra finished on 240 for 3, with the partnership worth 181.In Agartala, Prerak Mankad’s 137-ball 96 helped Saurashtra post 277 against Jharkhand. Asked to bat, Saurashtra fell from 11 for 0 to 38 for 4, before the captain Jaydev Shah (51) and Mankad put together 62 runs to take them to 100, following which Jaydev was bowled by Samar Quadri. Mankad reached his second fifty in his second first-class match before falling short of a maiden century when Ashish Kumar dismissed him four shy of triple figures. A 40-run last wicket partnership between Vandit Jivrajani and Kushang Patel took them to 277. Kumar and Shahbaz Nadeem were the pick of the Jharkhand bowlers picking up four and three wickets each, respectively. In the 9 overs Jharkhand batted, openers Anand Singh and Pratyush Singh scored 29 runs by stumps, trailing by 248.Three half-centuries from Karnataka’s batsmen powered them to 345 for 6 at stumps against Rajasthan in Vizianagaram. Choosing to bat, openers Ravikumar Samarth and KL Rahul scored 111 runs before Rahul, returning to first-class cricket to prove his match fitness ahead of the third England Test, was dismissed on 76 by left-arm pacer TM Ul-Haq. Mayank Agarwal, who has just one fifty-plus score this season, stitched together a 68-run stand with Stuart Binny. He made 81 and was dismissed with Karnataka on 283 for 5. The lower middle order then conjured up a fight to take them close to 350.Assam scored 224 for 5, on the back of a 131-run partnership for the fifth wicket, against Odisha in Hyderabad.After losing their first three wickets for 37 runs, Sibsankar Roy laboured to a 142-ball 37, before being dismissed after adding 60 runs for the fourth wicket. Kunal Saikia and Arun Karthik then batted till second-last over of the day, adding 131 before the latter was dismissed by Basant Mohanty on 62. Saikia finished not out on 88 – his highest first-class score – with Arup Das (0) as play ended on day 1. Mohanty and Suryakant Prasad finished with two wickets each for Odisha.

Scorecard

Career-best figures from medium-pacer Shakeel-ur-Rehman helped North West Frontier Province dismiss Sind for 149 and an unbeaten 68 from captain Younis Khan took the lead to 200 by stumps on day two in Karachi. Sind had resumed on 60 for 1 but Shakeel dealt quick blows to secure his side a 54-run lead.His first victim was opener Khalid Latif, caught behind for 17 from 75 balls to make it 79 for 2. Faisal Iqbal, the Pakistan international, was out for 1 and the dangerous Shahid Afridi was removed for an 18-ball 17. Naumanullah was then bowled for 47, the best contribution of the innings, and two swift strikes cut through the tail. Pind had proceeded to lose nine wickets for 89 runs.Rafatullah Mohmand and Yasir Hameed got NWFP’s second innings off to a solid start, adding 41, but a double-strike from Anwar Ali threatened to bring Sind back. Hameed hit 26 from 30 balls before he was trapped leg before by Anwar, a former Under-19 star. Riaz Kail suffered a similar fate for 4 as NWFP slipped to 51 for 2. That became 71 for 3 when Mohmand fell to Uzair-ul-Haq’s medium-pace, but Younis proved difficult to dislodge.Coming off two fifties against Zimbabwe and a one-match breather in the clean sweep, Younis rattled his way to an unbeaten 68 off 95 balls, with 13 boundaries, by the close of play. Offering solid support at the other end was Wajahatullah Wasti, the former Pakistan opener, with a sedate 14 from 81 balls. NWFP’s tail wagged in the first innings and further such contributions could be enough to seal Sind’s fate as this match progresses.
Scorecard
Salman Butt’s unbeaten 143-ball 135, in an opening stand of 191 with Mohammad Hafeez, gave Punjab a superb start to their first innings on day two in Lahore. Butt shrugged off an ordinary series against Zimbabwe by taking the Federal Areas attack to task – Punjab scored 219 for 1 at 4.56 runs an over – after Abdur Rehman and Wahab Riaz combined to reduce the opposition from an overnight 301 for 4 to an eventual 383.Butt struck 24 fours and a six , or 75% of his score, to launch a stirring reply. With Hafeez, another opener with international experience, he defied a line-up that included Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir and Yasir Arafat. Hafeez was a bit more relaxed in his approach, scoring 77 from 113 balls, but with his partner going all-out it suited the situation expertly. Butt ticked along at a strike rate of 94.40, doing plenty to keep this match from meandering to a draw. Punjab still trail by 164 but with the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Kamran Akmal to follow Federal Areas may be in for a tough third day in the field.Earlier, Rehman, who has played two Tests and 11 ODIs, snared 4 for 86 with his left-arm spin to support opening bowler Riaz. Usman Saeed and Naved Ashraf were cut short after crossing fifty and there was little action from Federal Areas’ lower order. Riaz, who had handed a maiden ODI cap against Zimbabwe last month, took 4 for 112 to help Punjab maintain damage control. Then it was over to Butt.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

For the second successive day, the weather played spoilsport and forced Duckworth-Lewis to decide what was shaping into a fascinating contest. This time, Chennai Super Kings were on the right end of the result, as their total of 55 without loss after eight overs, chasing 150, was three runs ahead of the par score when a severe dust storm descended upon the Eden Gardens, and the rains that followed ensured there was no chance for the match to resume. The two points to Chennai moves them up to 14, while Kolkata Knight Riders are stuck on ten points from 11 games.The weather marred the contest, but through 28 overs the crowd witnessed a couple of fine performances. At the same ground where he had announced his arrival in international cricket, Salman Butt played another gem, scoring a classy 73 off 54 balls, to lift an otherwise subdued performance from Kolkata. Chennai had their own man for the moment, as Makhaya Ntini took the third hat-trick of the IPL, dismissing Sourav Ganguly in his third over, and then returning 11 overs later to bowl Debabrata Das – who had been involved in an 86-run stand with Butt – and David Hussey off successive balls.That stand gave Kolkata’s bowlers something to defend, but the most crucial moment of the match came three deliveries before the interruption. Their defence of the total had got off to a poor start as Shoaib Akhtar struggled with what seemed an injured ankle. Stephen Fleming, at last showing the form and fluency of old, and Parthiv Patel had eased to a half-century stand when Parthiv top-edged a pull, but Ashok Dinda put down the skier, and in the process allowed a single. Had that chance been taken, Chennai would have ended level with the par score, and with no further play possible, Kolkata would have gone away with one point.The only positive for Kolkata was that their batting put together a reasonable performance after their abysmal display against Mumbai Indians, when they had been bundled out for 67. Butt’s knock wasn’t the fastest by Twenty20 standards, but considering the context – a pitch lacking in pace, and a batting line-up lacking in confidence – it was just what Kolkata would have wanted.Their start was poor yet again, as Ntini struck twice in his first three overs – Mohammad Hafeez flicked to fine leg and Sourav Ganguly attempted an ungainly heave and found his middle stump knocked back.At 28 for 2 after five overs, Chennai had taken the early honours, before Butt found a partner who was ready to play the support act. Das, drafted into the side in place of Aakash Chopra, creamed a couple of audacious straight sixes off Muttiah Muralitharan – who had a day to forget – but for the most part he was content to play second fiddle to the classy Butt, who played an outstanding knock.As is his wont, Butt was all silken grace through the off side, either making room to cream drives through the covers, or getting behind the line to pepper the point and cover boundaries off the back foot. Manpreet Gony was crisply hit through the covers in his first over, while Ntini, who otherwise gave little away, leaked successive fours off two exceptional shots, as Butt moved away and lofted one through the covers, and then square-drove the next ball through point. Muralitharan was not spared either, as Butt slog-swept a six over midwicket, and then carved three successive fours through midwicket and third man in his last over, as Muralitharan finished with unflattering figures of none for 41.Apart from that partnership, there wasn’t much cheer for Kolkata. Ntini, bowling a full length and attacking the stumps, bowled both Das and Hussey to complete his hat-trick and ended with excellent figures of 4 for 21. Gony’s control was exceptional as well, landing the ball on a length and allowing the batsmen no room. The fielding wasn’t as impressive – S Vidyut was guilty of sloppy misfielding and a missed catch off Butt, while Gony dropped one late in the innings – as Kolkata managed to reach a competitive target. With Shoaib in the attack, there was plenty of hope for the home crowd, but his limp performance, followed by the rain, means Kolkata have plenty of catching up to do to win a semi-final berth.

A pile of prizes went to Ashley Noffke on Saturday night as he gained more rewards for his outstanding domestic season with Queensland. Noffke, the third Australian to collect the 50-wicket, 500-run first-class double, claimed his second consecutive Ian Healy Trophy for the state’s Player of the Year.There was not much competition for Noffke after the Bulls finished last in the Pura Cup and missed the finals of the one-day and Twenty20 competitions. Noffke led the first-class batting with 741 runs at 46.31 – Ryan Broad was second on 566 – and the bowling with 51 wickets, 36 ahead of the second-placed Michael Kasprowicz. It was the first time a player had topped both Queensland lists since Ron Oxenham in 1936.The returns pushed Noffke to international Twenty20 and one-day debuts and he should be a certainty to tour the West Indies with Australia in May. “I’m really happy I was able to put it all together this season,” Noffke said.”It’s disappointing we didn’t get the results we were after, but cricket is a game of roundabouts. It can be a long year when things don’t go according to plan, but everyone stuck together really well and that’s the true test of a side.”Noffke also picked up the state’s award for the Pura Cup and the players’ player prize while James Hopes won the FR Cup gong and Shane Watson was recognised for his belligerent Twenty20 batting. The Australian representative Jodie Purves collected the women’s trophy for scoring 214 runs at 30.57 and claiming 16 dismissals in the national league.

Scorecard

Powered by a counterattacking 90 by Abhishek Nayar, and a steady display by their medium-pacers, West Zone beat South Zone by 26 runs in Bangalore to finish second in the Deodhar Trophy. Central had already secured the title by winning their first three matches with a bonus point in each of them.West had started a middle-order collapse when Nayar came into bat at 105 for 3 in the 25th over. In the next 10 overs, they stumbled to 165 for 6, and were in danger of being bowled out. That’s when Nayar found stable company in Ajit Agarkar, and by the time Agarkar got out West were in a position to accelerate in the slog overs. The two added 66 in 11.1 overs, while some lusty blows towards the end to take West to 272. Nayar was the last man out – in the 50th over, for an 80-ball 90.South’s chase never got going, and they had lost Robin Uthappa, M Vijay and S Vidyut in the first 13 overs for 51 runs. S Badrinath, along with mini contributions from the middle and the lower-middle order, kept them within an outside shot, but once Badrinath got out for 64 in the 42nd over, the task was too much for the lower order. Munaf Patel and Siddharth Trivedi took three wickets apiece.
ScorecardAnustup Majumdar and Saurabh Tiwary helped East Zone recover from a precarious situation to put up 296, a total North Zone did not have the firepower to chase. This ended a dismal campaign for North Zone, who failed to win anything and conceded bonus points in two of their matches. East finished third with nine points from four matches.When Majumdar and Saurabh came together, East had lost three wickets for 75 runs, and were in need of a partnership that would be big and one that would keep the rate up. The two did just that, adding 133 runs in 31.1 overs. Saurabh contributed 73 of those – off 74 balls, with the help of three fours and three sixes. Majumdar, though, went on to get his second List A century and his highest List A score, hitting 10 fours and two sixes in his 107-ball 109.The lack of impetus in East’s slog overs – last nine overs went for 56 – proved inconsequential, as a slow start followed by a middle-order collapse meant North were never with a shot. A mini recovery by Virat Kohli had taken North to 96 for 2 in the 22nd over, but it soon became 134 for 7 as East wrested control.

Group AAustria beat Gibraltar by six runs in Port Soif, on the first day of the European Championship Division One Twenty20. Having been asked to bat, Austria put up n 141 in 19.1 overs, mainly due to handy cameos from the lower order. Gibraltar fell just short of the target, finishing on 135 for 8, despite an unbeaten knock of 66 from 60 balls by Mark Bacarese.Italy chased down 90 in a tight game against Croatia in St Peter Port, winning by one wicket. Choosing to bat, Croatia’s innings lacked momentum, as they limped to 89 despite having four wickets in hand at the end of their 20 overs. Italy were not convincing in the chase, but sneaked home on the back of a knock of 26 not out from middle-order batsman Damian Crowley. Croatia’s fast bowlers John Vujnovich and Vivek Sharma were impressive, claiming three wickets each in tidy spells.Guernsey registered a comprehensive 10-wicket win against Norway at Castel. Choosing to bowl they shot out Norway for 57, before openers Tim Ravenscroft and Ross Kneller chased down the target in 7.1 overs. James Nussbaumer was the pick of their bowlers, knocking over three top-order Norway batsmen and conceding only seven runs in a 3.2-over spell.In their second game of the day Italy turned out an improved performance, easing past Austria by seven wickets in Castel. Batting first, Austria were bowled out for 105 in 19th over, as none of their top order were able to build on double-digit starts. Peter Petricola did most of the damage with the ball, claiming 4 for 20. Steady batting from Italy in the chase saw them through without much drama.Norway recovered well from their one-sided defeat against Guernsey to beat Gibraltar by a comfortable eight-wicket margin in Port Soif. Batting first, Gibraltar managed only 77 for 8 in their 20. Legspinner Muhammad Butt produced the best figures of the game, 3 for 13, before Norway’s batsmen clicked. Driven by an innings of 35 from 20 balls by Zaheer Ashiq, they knocked off the runs 62 balls to spare.Guernsey remained unbeaten on day one, beating Croatia by three wickets with an over to spare in St Peter Port. Chasing 98, the Guernsey top order was shaky and wickets fell at regular intervals, but a steady 34 from Stuart Le Prevost and a couple of timely lower-order cameos saw them home.Group BBelgium beat France by five wickets with two balls to spare in St Clement. Choosing to bat, France’s innings was hampered as both openers were run out. There were no sizeable contributions from the rest of the order, as they folded for 114 in exactly 20 overs. In the chase, four of Belgium’s top five batsmen got into double figures, ensuring their side began with a win.Denmark eased past Israel by eight wickets in St Martin, chasing down a target of 95 with five overs to spare. Denmark’s ploy of bowling first worked, as their bowlers shared the wickets around in tidy spells to restrict Israel to 94 for 9. The chase was steered by a fluent, unbeaten 44 from opener Freddie Klokker.A solid all-round performance helped Jersey beat Germany by six wickets in St Brelade. Choosing to field, Jersey kept Germany to 99 for 7. Only middle-order batsman Imran Chaudhry was able to launch an attack, scoring 36 off 25, before being bowled by Anthony Hawkins-Kay who claimed 3 for 13. Jersey were solid in the chase. Their top order produced steady cameos, which carried them to a win in the 17th over.Belgium won a nail-biter against Denmark by one run when last man Sair Anjum was caught off the bowling of Faisal Khaliq with two to get and three balls remaining in St Clement. Having chosen to bat, Belgium were bowled out for a modest 104. Bobby Chawla was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 for 13. Denmark got off to horrendous start, losing half their side with only 19 runs on the board. However, a lower-order resurgence saw them fight back to within touching distance of victory, but Belgium, and Khaliq, eventually had the final say to remain unbeaten after two games.Tony Carlyon starred with the ball and Dean Martin with the bat as Jersey routed Israel by eight wickets in St. Martin. Put in to bat by Jersey, Israel crawled to 87 all out from their 20 overs, with Carlyon taking 4 for 9 in four overs. He was ably backed up Anthony Hawkins-Kay, who took 3 for 16. Martin then made sure there would be no jitters chasing the small total with a brutal, unbeaten 64 from 44 balls, laced with three fours and five sixes, to see Jersey home with eight overs to spare.An allround bowling performance helped France beat Germany by 34 runs in St Brelade. Put into bat, France managed 126 for 7, with Usman Khan top scoring with 36. Germany struggled from the start, losing wickets at regular intervals, and were bundled out for 92 in 18.3 overs. Zika Ali picked up 3 for 17, while Usman chipped in with the ball as well, taking 2 for 22.