Euro Qualifiers Guernsey 2024 FINAL Guernsey v Denmark

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe Qualifier Group C
Match no. T20I no. 2825
at King George V Sports Ground, Castel
on Wednesday 28th August 2024 at 3.30pm
Umpires: Anna Harris (Eng) Azam Baig (Ire) 3rd Umpire Richard Veillard (Gsy)
Match Referee: Gerrie Pienaar (S Afr)
Toss won by Guernsey who elected to field
Guernsey won by 6 wkts
Player Of The Match Matthew Stokes (Gsy)

Denmark innings			Run	Balls	4s	6s	SR		Guernsey Bowling	Ov	Mdn	Run	Wkt	ECON	WD	NB
Taranjit Bharaj †	c †Damarell	b Forshaw	9	9	2	0	100		Harry Johnson	4	0	40	1	10	3	0
Hamid Shah *	c †Damarell	b Bichard	22	18	3	1	122.22		Luke Bichard	4	0	17	1	4.25	0	0
Shangeev Thanikaithasan	c †Damarell	b Forshaw	0	1	0	0	0		Charlie Forshaw	4	0	35	2	8.75	0	0
Saif Ahmad	c Bichard	b Johnson	0	3	0	0	0		Martin Bradley	4	0	35	2	8.75	1	0
Surya Anand	c Stokes	b Bradley	17	26	1	0	65.38		Matthew Stokes	1	0	15	0	15	0	0
Nicolaj Laegsgaard	c Bichard	b Bradley	62	35	2	6	177.14		Tom Nightingale	2	0	9	0	4.5	1	0
Oliver Hald	run out (T Nightingale)		28	21	2	1	133.33		Adam Martel	1	0	4	0	4	0	0
Delawar Khan	not out		8	7	0	0	114.28
Saran Aslam	dnb
Eshan Karimi	dnb
Toqeer Ahmad	dnb
Extras	(b 1, lb 2, w 9)		12
TOTAL	(for 7 wkts)		158	(RR: 7.90)
Fall of wickets: 1-22 (Taranjit Bharaj, 2.4 ov), 2-22 (Shangeev Thanikaithasan , 2.5 ov), 3-31 (Saif Ahmad, 4.2 ov), 4-35 (Hamid Shah, 5.5 ov), 5-87 (Surya Anand, 12.4 ov), 6-142 (Nicolaj Laegsgaard, 17.6 ov), 7-158 (Oliver Hald, 19.6 ov)

Guernsey innings			Run	Ball	4s	6s	SR		Denmark Bowling	Ov	Mdn	Run	Wkt	ECON	WD	NB
Josh Butler		b Ahmad	43	29	4	2	148.27		Nicolaj Laegsgaard	4	0	29	1	7.25	0	0
Ben Fitchet		b Toqeer Ahmad	7	6	0	1	116.66		Toqeer Ahmad	3.4	0	30	1	8.18	0	0
Tom Nightingale	c Shah	b Surya Anand	13	12	2	0	108.33		Surya Anand	3	0	23	1	7.66	0	0
Matthew Stokes	not out		67	44	6	1	152.27		Oliver Hald	1	0	17	0	17	0	0
Isaac Damarell †	lbw	b Laegsgaard	2	4	0	0	50		Eshan Karimi	1	0	10	0	10	0	0
Oliver Nightingale *	not out		23	18	3	0	127.77		Saif Ahmad	4	0	32	1	8	1	1
Luke Bichard	dnb								Delawar Khan	2	0	17	0	8.5	1	0
Adam Martel	dnb
Martin-Dale Bradley	dnb
Charlie Forshaw	dnb
Harry Johnson	dnb
Extras	(lb 1, nb 1, w 2)		4
TOTAL	(for 4 wkts in 18.4 ov)		159	(RR: 8.51)
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Ben Fitchet, 1.2 ov), 2-35 (Tom Nightingale, 4.4 ov), 3-100 (Josh Butler, 11.3 ov), 4-105 (Isaac Damarell, 12.4 ov)

‘Fitting for classy Stokes to have the final word’ by Gareth Le Prevost Guernsey Press
A special cricketer ensured it was a very special day for Guernsey cricket yesterday.
The whole Island squad have played their part throughout the successful ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe Qualifier campaign and showcased their talents to the hundreds who have turned out in support, but it was fitting that in a brilliant performance in the final from the hosts, the winning runs were scored by their best player Matt Stokes. There would have been some people in another great KGV crowd unaware of his class before he strode to the middle at a crucial time in the run chase against a previously unbeaten Denmark side just buoyed by the claiming the big scalp of Tom Nightingale. They would have left singing his praises for a masterful display of sublime stroke-play combined with ice-cold temperament that guided Guernsey to one of their most memorable – and important – victories ever on home soil as he finished 67 not out. Aided and abetted firstly by Josh Butler, whose fine innings should not be undervalued, and later by captain Ollie Nightingale, who was made for the situation he
found himself in, Stokes produced the type of performance that is a player-of-the-match adjudicator’s dream because it makes the decision so easy.

It had been set up by the bowling and fielding, though, with the Sarnians rising to the occasion from the outset. After Nightingale had opted to bowl, Harry Johnson and Luke Bichard produced tidy first overs before Charlie Forshaw took over for the third. The teenager was targeted by Taranjit Bharaj, who came down the track to take a six and a four off the first three balls, but the momentum swung dramatically when Zak Damarell then stood up to the stumps and he combined with the young seamer to remove both Bharaj and Shangeev Thanikaithasan in successive deliveries. Saif Ahmad did not last long either, with Johnson having him caught by a back-pedalling Bichard at mid-off.

The teenager was targeted by Taranjit Bharaj, who came down the track to take a six and a four off is first three balls, but the momentum swung dramatically when Zak Damarell then stood up to the stumps and he combined with the young seamer to remove both Bharaj and Shangeev Thanikaithasan in successive deliveries. Saif Ahmad did not last long, either, with Johnson having him caught by a back-pedalling Bichard at mid-off.

However, the prize wicket was that of player-of-the-tournament Hamid Shah, whose three knocks in the group stage had yielded 100, 59 and 9l. There was to be no raising of his bat on this occasion, though, as Bichard induced the edge off the penultimate delivery of the powerplay and Damarell did the rest. Against a side of Denmark’s quality, though, you know they are going to bat deep and in number six Nicolaj Laegsgaard they had a tall left-hander capable of clearing the ropes with ease. Stokes and Forshaw quickly found that out as decent deliveries were soon disappearing into the crowd thanks to his majestic swing of the willow. Laegsgaard lost a partner in Surya Anand when Stokes took a well-judged catch on the boundary off the spin bowling of Martin-Dale Bradley, who had a more remarkable week than most having left Sunday’s match halfway through to attend the birth of his daughter, but he kept going and the 17th over cost Guernsey 26 with Johnson dispatched for a four and three sixes. Fellow left-hander Oliver Hald started finding the boundary too, but crucially Bradley removed Laegsgaard for 62 from just 35 balls when a rare miscue was pouched by Bichard. The same fielder misjudged his next chance-in the deep and ended up with a black eye for his trouble, but Guernsey finished well with the ball and Tom Nightingale ran out Hald attempting a second off the final ball to keep the Danes to 158 for 7.

While Ben Fitchet did not last long at the start of the run chase, his opening gambit of lofting the first ball he faced for a glorious six into the nets over long-off to give bowler Laegsgaard a taste of his own medicine, helped set the ball rolling for the hosts and when he departed in the second over, bowled by a full Toqeer Ahmad delivery, Butler and Tom Nightingale took up the baton. Their second-wicket stand of 27 may not have been substantial, but it maintained the positive tone, coming as it did in 20 balls, with Butler almost caressing a pulled six while three other boundaries came in that time. However, the Danes were buoyed when Nightingale sliced a catch to mid-off with the score on 35 and had another wicket fallen quickly, the Sarnians on and off the field would have become twitchy. Butler and Stokes ensured that did not happen, though, with an outstanding partnership of 65 full of high-quality, ‘proper’ cricket shots played in a calculated manner.

Together they took the game away from Denmark and instilled confidence in both their team and the crowd, so much so that when Butler was bowled attempting a sweep the ball after the Greens had brought up triple figures, there was barely any suggestion of momentum being lost. He was unfortunate not to reach a half-century, falling as he did for 43 from 29 balls with four fours and two sixes, and Damarell quickly followed as he missed a reverse to be trapped leg before, but Stokes was in total control of the situation by now and when he came on strike to face a free-hit, he made full use of it to bring up his 50 with the one maximum of his innings.

By then his captain had joined him and Ollie Nightingale delighted the crowd with a few innovative strokes to help take his side to the brink of victory. But it was only right that Stokes clipped the winning single with eight balls to spare and as he jumped for joy, the cheer from the spectators was both one of celebration and admiration for the special performance they had just witnessed.

The BBC cricket website featured the following account:
‘Guernsey reach T20 World Cup qualifiers’

Guernsey are through to the final stages of European qualifying for the 2026 T20 World Cup after a six-wicket win over Denmark. Matt Stokes hit an unbeaten 67 at the KGV ground as the islanders won the final of 2026 T20 World Cup European Sub-Regional Qualifier C on home soil.
Having slumped to 35-4 off 5.2 overs Denmark’s Nicolaj Laegsgaard hit a superb 62 off 35 balls and Oliver Hald scored 28 as the Danes fought back to end their 20 overs on 158-7. In reply, Josh Butler and Stokes’ 65-run second-wicket stand built the foundation of their victory as Guernsey reached 159-4 in 18.4 overs. Denmark had been unbeaten in their group in the tournament while Guernsey had won three of their four games – a surprise loss to Finland on Saturday the only blemish on their record. The victory means Guernsey join the final regional qualifying stage for the first time in their international history. They will join Channel Island rivals Jersey, Scotland, Netherlands and Italy in the European qualifier in 2025 where the top two sides from the tournament will make the 2026 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and India.

Taranjit Bharaj and Hamid Shah got Denmark off to a decent start before Charlie Forshaw took two wickets in two balls as wicketkeeper Zak Damarell caught both Bharaj for nine and his replacement Shangeev Thanikaithasan without scoring to put them on 22-2 off three overs.
The home bowlers continued to pile on the pressure and Saif Ahmad was caught by Luke Bichard off Harry Johnson’s bowling for a three-ball duck, before Bichard took the prized wicket of Denmark captain Shah. Shah, who hit a six and three fours in an 18-ball 22, had been the leading batter in the tournament but his dismissal left the Danes on 35-4 off 5.5 overs. But Laegsgaard and Surya Anand steadied the innings with an important 52-run stand before Anand was caught on the boundary by Matt Stokes off Martin Dale Bradley’s bowlng for 17 to leave Denmark on 87-5 off 12.4 overs. Laegsgaard was superb – smashing 23 off Johnson’s final over to push his side to 130-5 with three overs to go. He was eventually caught at long-off by Bichard off Bradley for 62 having smashed six sixes and two fours to leave the Danes on 142-6 with two overs to go. Oliver Hald – who had been dropped on three earlier in the innings – ended on 28 off 21 balls after being run out with the final ball of the innings as Denmark finished on 158-7. Forshaw and Bradley each ended with figures of 2-35 while Bichard took 1-17.

The Danes began well in defence of their total when Ben Fitchet was bowled by Toqeer Ahmad for seven early in the second over. Josh Butler and Tom Nightingale put on 27 runs for the second wicket before the latter was caught for 13 off 12 balls to leave the islanders on 35-2 off 4.4 overs. New batter Stokes and Butler came together and began to apply the pressure to Denmark’s attack and bring their side above the required run-rate. The pair played some superb shots to delight the home supporters as they took 26 balls to reach their half-century stand.
They eventually put on 65 runs before Butler was bowled by Saif Ahmad for 43 off 29 balls to leave the islanders on 100-3 midway through the 12th over. Damarell was trapped lbw by Laegsgaard for two soon after as skipper Ollie Nightingale came out to try and calm any nerves.
Stokes finished with 67 off 44 balls, including a six and six fours, while Nightingale scored 23 not out off 18 balls as the islanders eased to their target with eight balls to spare. “It means everything,” Stokes told the ICC after the win. “For those who have bene in the team for a while we’ve had 11 years of almost getting there and not quite, but now we’ve finally crossed the line.
“We’re looking forward to playing at a really good standard against some really, really good teams,” he added. Danish skipper Shah was named Player of the Tournament having scored 294 runs in five games including a 100 and a 91. “I think Guernsey outplayed us today, they played some really smart cricket,” Shah told the ICC. “They played really well in the powerplay – both with the ball and the bat – so they got the momentum and we were 30 runs short today. “We have set the standard for the way we want to play in the future and I’m really proud of the guys, reaching the final is amazing.”

‘Hard work pays off in historic Guernsey win’ by Gareth Le Prevost Guernsey Press
Triumphant Guernsey were the toast of the KGV yesterday as they took a step towards the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 with a famous victory over Denmark in the final of their sub-regional qualifier.
Going into the match as underdogs against opponents who had progressed through their group unbeaten, the hosts saved the best for last with an outstanding performance to seal a convincing six-wicket win, chasing down 159 with eight balls to spare. Player-of-the-match Matt Stokes was the star of the show with a classy 67 not out to guide the Greens home, but each Sarnian played his part throughout the tournament. ‘I’m really pleased for the guys, really pleased for Matty – he’s carried us for quite a while, so it’s brilliant for him to be out there and finish it and fair play to everyone else,’ said captain Ollie Nightingale, who was in the middle with Stokes when he hit the winning run. ‘In the final, you probably would have wanted [to be chasing] a few less, but fair play to the guys in the middle order for them, they played really nicely. ‘But once we got ahead, we knew that with Stokesy out there we would always be in control and he batted beautifully. ‘He’s better than the rest of us,’ the skipper added with a chuckle.
Nightingale felt that his side had shown great character to respond to Saturday’s narrow defeat to Finland by beating both Estonia and Denmark. ‘We played a close game on Saturday, it was probably a bit of a wake-up call, but fair play to the guys, everyone stepped up today.’
Guernsey will now progress to the Europe Regional Final next summer when they will be up against Scotland and the Netherlands as well as the other sub-regional qualifiers Italy and Jersey. Nightingale believes that promotion is vindication of the work the squad have put in for many months. ‘The guys trained really hard over the winter, probably harder than we have for quite a while and then, like we’ve touched on many times, in April when it was cold and wet we played those academy games,’ said the skipper. ‘So I think it’s testament to everyone who’s worked hard and all the 14 full squad members this week have played a part, and everyone in the 18 as well.’