Finland v Guernsey

ICC Mens T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe Qualifier C,
on Saturday 24th August 2024
at Guernsey Rovers Athletic Club Ground, Port Soif
Match no. T20I no. 2801
13-over match due to rain delayed start
Toss won by Guernsey who elected to bowl
Umpires: Azam Baig (Ire) Jareth McCready (Ire) Anna Harris (Eng)
Match Referee Gerrie Pienaar (S Afr)
Player of the match Raaz Mohammad (Fin)

Finland innings			Runs	Balls	4S	6S	SR		Guernsey Bowling	Ov	Mdn	Run	Wkt	ECON
Ghulam Abbas Butt	lbw	b M Bradley	12	11	0	1	109.09		Dane Mullen	2.4	0	22	0	8.25
Vanraaj Padhaal	c M Bradley	b C Forshaw	9	9	2	0	100		Luke Bichard	3	0	15	3	5
Jordan O'Brien	c &	b MWR Stokes	5	6	0	0	83.33		Martin-D Bradley	3	0	11	3	3.67
Faheem Nellancheri	c T Nightingale	b L Bichard	14	11	1	1	127.27		Charlie Forshaw	2	0	22	2	11
Nicholas Salonen	c J Butler	b L Bichard	5	7	0	0	71.43		Matthew Stokes	2	0	18	1	9
Amjad Sher	c J Butler	b C Forshaw	15	10	1	1	150
Atif Rasheed	runout (Damarell / T Nightingale)		23	14	1	1	164.29
Jonathan Scamans		b M Bradley	0	1	0	0	0
Mahesh Tambe	c IDA Damarell	b M Bradley	0	2	0	0	0
Ekhpelwak Kuchey	c B Fitchet	b L Bichard	0	3	0	0	0
Raaz Muhammad	Not out		2	2	0	0	100
Extra	(b 0, w 3, nb 0, lb 2)		5
Total	(in 12.4 ov)		90
Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Butt - 2.6 ov), 2-22 (Padhaal - 3.3 ov), 3-39 (Obrien - 5.2 ov), 4-47 (Nellancheri - 7.1 ov), 5-51 (Salonen - 7.6 ov), 6-77 (Sher - 9.6 ov), 7-78 (Scamans - 10.2 ov), 8-78 (Tambe - 10.4 ov), 9-79 (Kuchey - 11.2 ov), 10-90 (Rasheed - 12.4 ov)

Guernsey Innings			Runs	Balls	4s	6s	ECON		Finland Bowling	Ov	Mdn	Run	Wkt	ECON
Josh Butler	c J Scamans	b R Muhammad	21	18	1	1	116.67		Atif Rasheed	1.5	0	20	1	10.91
Ben Fitchet		b R Muhammad	7	11	1	0	63.64		Nicholas Salonen	3	0	21	0	7
Tom Nightingale	c M Tambe	b R Muhammad	3	6	0	0	50		Raaz Muhammad	3	0	7	4	2.33
Matthew Stokes	lbw	b R Muhammad	1	2	0	0	50		Mahesh Tambe	3	0	18	2	6
Isaac Damarell	c N Salonen	b M Tambe	0	1	0	0	0		Amjad Sher	2	0	19	1	9.5
Oliver Nightingale	runout (J Scamans / N Salonen)		33	22	1	1	150
Ben Ferbrache	c J Scamans	b M Tambe	0	2	0	0	0
Luke Bichard	c &	b A Sher	8	9	0	0	88.89
Martin Dale Bradley	runout (N Salonen / A Sher)		7	2	0	1	350
Charlie Forshaw	c &	b A Rasheed	3	3	0	0	100
Dane Mullen	Not out		1	1	0	0	100
Extra	(b 1, w 1, nb 0, lb 0)		2
Total	(in 12.5 ov)		86
Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Fitchet - 2.4 ov), 2-26 (T Nightingale - 4.3 ov), 3-28 (Stokes - 4.6 ov), 4-31 (Damarell - 5.3 ov), 5-35 (Butler - 6.5 ov), 6-36 (Ferbrache - 7.2 ov), 7-57 (Bichard - 10.2 ov), 8-68 (Bradley - 11.1 ov), 9-76 (Forshaw - 12.1 ov), 10-86 (O Nightingale - 12.5 ov)

Heavy overnight rain caused the delay of the match against Finland. The pitch had been covered to prevent additional problems. The surplus water had to be removed by helpers and players before the task of removing the two waterproof sheets. Eventually everything was ready but the hour delay meant a loss of 7 overs for each side.

‘Magic Mohammad casts his spell to leave hosts dazed’ by Gareth Le Prevost Guernsey Press

Thirteen proved unlucky for Guernsey on Saturday as Finland stormed Fortress Port Soif. Captain Ollie Nightingale came close to providing some last-over heroics in a game shortened to 13 overs per side by the heavy early morning rain, but when he fell, so did his side – to a damaging four-run defeat that left them with absolutely no margin for error going into their concluding match against Estonia at the KGV.
But Finland fully deserved the applause they received from the home crowd as they walked jubilantly from the ground for an inspired fielding display that backed up their bowlers, led by the outstanding Raaz Mohammad who emphasised the value of being able to nibble the ball around off the seam from a good line and length.

It was he more than anyone who cut the hosts down to size, ripping through the top order with an extraordinary spell of 4 for 7 from his three overs as the Greens collapsed from 26 for 1 to 36 for 6 in the space of 17 balls. That slump was a realisation of Guernsey’s worst fears.
They went into the tournament with the ambition of batting first if possible throughout their group games to ensure their batters would get time at the crease. However, after losing the toss in their opening game when Bulgaria opted to bat, the weather conditions against both Malta and Finland saw Nightingale understandably opt for a safety-first policy when the coin came down on his side, so only four home players had wielded the willow before Saturday and it showed as Guernsey seemingly got stuck in two minds chasing what looked like a moderate score of 90, with indecision spreading through the line-up. There was little sign of what was about to follow when Josh Butler swept the second ball of the run chase for six, but that was to be one of only half-a-dozen boundaries hit throughout the innings. Both he and opening partner Ben Fitchet added a four apiece, meaning half of the overall boundary count came within the first two overs, before in the third frustration got the better of Fitchet and when he missed with a big heave, Mohammad splattered his stumps in several different directions.

Butler was looking more assured but after adding 10 more to the score with Tom Nightingale, the latter also looked to get after Mohammad and holed out to long on. That wicket really sparked the dramatic momentum swing that quickly turned the game on its head. Mohammad produced a beauty that nipped back to trap Matt Stokes LBW off the last ball of that over and in the next Zak Damarell fell for a golden duck when Nicholas Salonen took a terrific catch, diving full length to his right at point off Mahesh Tambe.
Butler then became part of the exodus as he failed to move his feet and nicked off to the penultimate ball of player-of-the-match Mohammad’s spell. To top things off, Ben Ferbrache then gloved one down leg-side off Tambe to depart without troubling the scorers and Guernsey were in serious trouble.

Luke Bichard was sent in ahead of Martin-Dale Bradley to join his captain and try to get Guernsey heading in the right direction, and the seventh-wicket pair did steady the ship for the while, but the boundaries had dried up and the required run-rate was becoming ominous. In their three overs together, they added 21 to the total, but it was when Bichard tried to up the ante that he became the next wicket to fall, spooning a return catch to Amjad Sher. Bradley came out and quickly gave hope to the supporters with a lovely pick up off his legs for six off just his second ball, but he was not to face another delivery as the risky attempt at a second run off the first ball of the next over led to him being run out. Nightingale and Charlie Forshaw took it to the last over with their side still needing 15 to win.
The teenager was caught and bowled off the first delivery to leave last man Dane Mullen on strike and he sensibly got bat on ball for a single to get Nightingale to the right end as far as Guernsey were concerned. The skipper then produced a tiny glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel as he utilised the wind to loft the ball over deep mid-wicket for six and reduce the ask to eight off three. A quickly scampered two off the next meant that the Green were within one lusty blow of victory.

However, Nightingale did not quite get hold of the next ball and the ball bounced out to the leg-side boundary where a super pick-up and throw right over the stumps from Salonen beat his at- tempt to get back to the striker’s end and the game was up. The sombre mood in the home camp at the end was in total contrast to the cock-a-hoop Finnish players, who had just kept themselves in with a chance of reaching the final. If the two sides shared something in common on Saturday, it was the fielding, because earlier Guernsey had produced some eye-catching dismissals too. Certainly the caught and bowled Stokes took to dismiss Jordan O’Brien when he changed direction in his follow through to sprint to the vacant midwicket region before diving to grab the ball as it came down from a great height was one of the highlights of the tournament. Butler had also taken a beautifully judged catch in the deep after the ball had stalled into the wind while Atif Rasheed found out to his cost it is unwise to take on Tom Nightingale’s bullet arm. Of the bowlers, Bichard and Bradley both claimed three wickets each and there were two for young Forshaw. But while Guernsey did a lot right in the first half of the match, they did not do enough in the second to make it count.