Old Victorians progress to European finals – BBC Sport

Jersey champions Old Victorians have made the final stages of the European Cricket League after a 15-run win over Swiss side Olten to win their group.

Opener Jonty Jenner’s impressive 97 off 31 balls helped Old Victorians reach 175-2 in their 10 overs while Jamie Watling added a quick-fire 50 not out.

In reply Olten could only manage 160-5 as they lost a couple of late wickets.

The island side had three wins in the knockout stages to ensure their passage to the finals later this month.

Jersey international Jenner – who was once 12th man for England – Jenner was superb as he backed up a century in the qualifying win over Portuguese side Gamblers as he and Charlie Brennan put on 76 for the opening wicket.

Brennan was caught for 20 off 12 balls but Jenner carried on smashing the Swiss side all over the Cartama Oval in Spain as he hit nine sixes and three fours before being caught by Roshanth Karunamoorthy off Diyon Johnson’s bowling at the end of the penultimate over.

But Watling, who has also impressed with the bat in the tournament, ensured what became an unassailable score as his brought up a half century from 17 balls with the help of six sixes.

Olten started their innings superbly as they smashed 30 runs off Louis Kelly’s first over.

But OVs gradually reeled in openers Raihan Stanikzai and Yasotharan Thirunavukarasu who reached 75 between them in five overs before the latter was caught for 24 off 13 balls.

Stanikzai was caught in the next over for 54 off 22 balls to leave his side on 95-2 with three-and-a-half overs to go.

As Olten’s plight became more desperate they lost two wickets in the final couple of overs as they ended on 160-5.

The islanders reached the final an impressive 62-run win over Portuguese champions Gamblers in their qualifier.

Batting first, Jonty Jenner scored 101 and Charlie Brennan 87 as Old Victorians made 192-2 from 10 overs.

In reply, they restricted Gamblers to 130-9 in their 10 overs.

Openers Jenner and Brennan put on 173 for the first wicket before Brennan was caught midway through the ninth over after hitting eight sixes and eight fours in his 31-ball knock.

Fellow Jersey international Jenner went on to make his century with the penultimate ball of the innings thanks to one of his 12 sixes – he also hit five fours in his 28-ball innings.

It was a second century in three games for Old Victorians after Jamie Watling hit 104 not out in their win over Turkish side Afyonkarahisar in their final group game.

It failed to pay off as Ed Giles took the opening two wickets with Jenner taking the catch to dismiss Gamblers’ dangerous captain Kuldeep Gholiya, who had hit 28 off just eight balls.

Wickets continued to fall as Gamblers were restricted to 76-4 at the midway point of their innings before Simranjeet Singh put up some resistance.

The middle-order batter hit an 18-ball 45 and smashed three successive sixes before being caught by Giles off Louis Kelly’s bowling to leave Gamblers on 121-6 off 8.4 overs.

Kelly took Danial Asghar’s wicket with the next ball but failed to end his over with a hat-trick as he returned figures of 2-36.

Two more wickets fell in the final over as the islanders recorded an impressive win.

Having finished third in the round-robin stage the island side eased into the qualifying game as they thrashed Bulgarian side Akademik Sofia by 10 wickets in their eliminator on Tuesday morning.

Akademik were restricted to 54 all out from their 10 overs as Theo Pullman took 3-9.

In reply, Elliot Corbel and Rob Duckett each hit 26 not out as they reached their target in 5.1 overs.