Jersey and Vanuatu secure promotion to Division Four

Andrew Nixon



Jersey and Vanuatu have secured promotion to Division Four of the World Cricket League after winning their Division Five semi-finals today in Benoni.



On the Willowmoore Park C Field, Jersey captain Charles Perchard won the toss and asked Qatar to bat first. The Asian qualifiers quickly found themselves struggling on 30-5, Anthony Hawkins-Kay taking four wickets in his return to the side after an injury on the opening day.



An innings of 79 from Tamoor Sajjad helped bring a little more respectability to the Qatar innings, but there was only one over double digit score in their total of 152.



Jersey's reply started with a partnership of 83 between Peter Gough and Nat Watkins, which ended when the latter was trapped lbw by Tamoor Sajjad for 37. Gough went on to finish unbeaten on 71, guiding his team to a seven wicket win - and the promotion that came with it - in 27.5 overs.



On the C Field, Vanuatu captain Andrew Mansale put Italy in to bat after he won the toss, and both Italian openers were out quickly, falling to Callum Blake in the fourth over. Peter Petricola and Damien Crowley set about rebuilding the innings, putting on 124 for the third wicket before Petricola fell for 60.



Crowley followed soon afterwards for 65, the second of three wickets for Jelany Chilia, and only two other Italian batsmen were able to reach double figures. They were bowled out for 183, and Vanuatu were sensing an opportunity for promotion.



The Vanuatu pair of Jonathon Dunn and Joshua Rasu got them almost halfway there with a partnership of 73 in the first 14 overs before Rasu was out for 35. That brought yesterday's hero Patrick Matautaava to the crease, and he showed that yesterday was no fluke.



He brought up his fifty even quicker than against Germany, this time from 31 balls, but he slowed down from then on, before he was the fourth man out having scored 83 from 60 balls. His wicket fell in the 31st over with Vanuatu needing just 11 more to win, which they did without the loss of another wicket.



Whilst Jersey have been in Division Four before, Vanuatu's promotion is the first time they have been at this level, and the first time they've not been in the bottom division. The two teams will play in the final on Saturday after a rest day tomorrow, though the more important match is the third place play-off between Qatar and Italy, with the winners set to remain in Division Five and the losers set to be relegated.



On the A Field today, the Cayman Islands batted first after winning the toss in their fifth place play-off semi-final match against Germany. Their opening pair of Sacha De Alwis and Darren Cato put on 127 before Cato was out for 62. De Alwis went on to score 94, but the next highest score after the openers was 26 and the Caymans scored 268-6 from their 50 overs.



Germany scored the required runs in 41.5 overs to win by five wickets, Venkatraman Ganesan top scoring with 59.



On the main oval, the other fifth place match between Guernsey and Ghana saw the Channel Islanders batting first after Ghana won the toss. Matthew Stokes top scored for them with 75 as they were bowled out for 213, Kofi Bagabena taking 3-32.



Ghana lost both openers cheaply in their reply, but recovered thanks to a 89 run partnership between Samson Awiah and Obed Agbomadzie. Their partnership ended when Awiah was dismissed by David Hooper for 65, whilst Agbomadzie went on to score 41.



Julius Mensah scored 33 from 25 balls down the order, but it wasn't enough and with one man absent hurt, Ghana were bowled out for 190 to lose by 23 runs. The fifth and seventh place play-offs will also be played on Saturday.