ICC Europe Division 2 Scotland 2006

France v Guernsey
European Championship Division Two 2006 (5th Place Play-off)
Venue Titwood, Glasgow on 9th August 2006 (50-over match)
Balls per over 6
Toss France won the toss and decided to field
Result Guernsey won by 61 runs
Umpires GH Black (Ireland), S Tovey (Netherlands)
Scorers J Avery, KC Nisbet

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Guernsey innings    RunsBallsMins4s6sSR France bowlingOvMdnRunsWktsWNbSRER
A A BanerjeecWaseem BhattibShahzad Orangzeb416191-25.0Tahir Saeed1015802-5.8
†M OlivercTahir SaeedbAyyavooraju8784120131103.6Shahzad Orangzeb703638-145.1
* A BigginsstWaseem BhattibShabbir Hussain727361-25.9Javed Ijaz40290217.3
L SavidentcTahir SaeedbShahzad Orangzeb136125135191108.8Brumant904803-5.3
J A J NussbaumercJaved IjazbShahzad Orangzeb4650724-92.0Shabbir Hussain71481--426.9
S E Le Prevostnotout002--Khalid Abdul40310-17.8
R J Veillardnotout211--200.0Koralagamage20100--5.0
G J RichdnbAyyavooraju603111-365.2
K B MoherndldnbHoughton101201-12.0
P J A Moodydnb
S P Queripeldnb
Extras (b1, lb4, w19, nb2)26
Total (for 5 wickets in 50 overs)308
Fall of wickets
1-10(Banerjee),2-65(Biggins),3-166(Oliver),4-306(Savident),5-306(Nussbaumer)

France innings    RunsBallsMins4s6sSR Guernsey bowlingOvMdnRunsWktsWNbSRER
A V Ayyavoorajurunout(Moody)9012215311-73.8Moody814522-245.6
*Shabbir HussainlbwbMoody2016174-125.0Queripel402213-245.5
Javed IjazcBanerjeebQueripel132--33.3Banerjee704511-426.4
†Waseem BhatticMoodybSavident4737448-127.0Rich100511--605.1
R RaguthaslbwbSavident1422182-63.6Savident1024441-154.4
Tahir SaeedlbwbRich4541-80.0Moherndl30290--9.7
T S KoralagamagebSavident20121721166.7
J M HoughtonbSavident035--0.0
Khalid AbdulcandbMoody31273413114.8
L T BrumantcVeillardbBanerjee268--33.3
Shahzad Orangzebnotout002--
Extras (b1, lb10, w7, nb0)18
Total (in 42 overs)247
Fall of wickets
1-38(Shabbir Hussain),2-39(Javed Ijaz),3-104(Waseem Bhatti),4-131(Raguthas),5-136(Tahir Saeed),6-171(Koralagamage),7-181(Houghton),8-244(Khalid Abdul),9-247(Ayyavooraju),10-247(Brumant)

PREVIEW

The greens face France at Clydesdale Cricket Club today for the fifth place and, after a poor run with the bat, Jeremy frith has been dropped for the clash. Jersey are looking towards possible promotion to Division One as they feature in today’s final at Glasgow Academicals, after they took care of Germany by six wickets yesterday. The final was briefly in danger of not taking place when their opponents, Norway, were themselves under investigation for having ineligible players but they were cleared by the ECC in the early hours of this morning.

Guernsey team to play France:

A Biggins (capt), S Le Prevost, L Savident, M Oliver, A Banerjee, R Veillard, J Nussbaumer, G Rich, P Moody, K Moherndl, S Queripel.

MATCH

‘Savident shows his class’    by Aaron Scoones

A sublime 136 from Lee Savident set up a 61-run victory for Guernsey over France in the fifth place play-off of the European Cricket Council Division Two Championship. The 29-year-old smashed the French bowling attack to all parts of the Clydesdale ground as he helped post a huge 308 total. France’s batting line-up, which was the strongest the Sarnians had come across during the tournament, had a good stab at it before coming to a close on 247.

But the general feeling in the Guernsey camp was that they should have performed in their previous matches to have booked a place in the final instead of a worthless play-off. ‘It was too much too late,’ said island manager Dave Hearse. ‘The real Guernsey turned up today.’

Guernsey’s 308 contained two century partnerships that both involved Savident, the first with Matt Oliver and then with Jamie Nussbaumer. The greens had found themselves at 10 for one when Ami Banerjee went for four. On a wicket that was conducive to spin, Oliver and captain Andy Biggins found themselves under the cosh as Shabir Hussain and TL Brumant extracted some excessive turn. When Biggins, born out of frustration, was stumped off Hussain by Waseem Bhatti, Savident came to the wicket at 65 for two. Together with fellow big hitter Oliver, they broke the French’s purple patch with some sensible, aggressive batting. Just after they had passed their century partnership Oliver went or one sweep shot too many as the ball dollied off the back of his bat to Tahir Saeed at backward square. The opener had carried on from the day before when he hit 71 not out against Israel to win the match for his side.

Savident, on the other hand, has had a disappointing time with the bat since his opening knock of 43 against Gibraltar last Thursday. That did not seem to be affecting him too much as he looked simply majestic yesterday. Anything overpitched was driven with ferocity down the ground and anything short was dispatched with disdain. Someone else who was struggling for runs was Nussbaumer but this was soon forgotten when he complemented Savident’s big shots with some nifty running between the wickets and his own power shots when the occasion came around. He was actually outscoring Savident as the former Hampshire man neared his century mark. Once Savident got his 100 after having been stuck in the 90s for a while he really let loose. The highlight of his innings came on 129 when he unleashed a sublime reverse sweep that saw the ball rocket over point for four. He departed three runs later when he lazily paddled the ball up to Saeed at short fine leg in the last over. Savident and Nussbaumer had put on 140. The latter went the next ball for 46 before Richard Veillard hit two off the last to put 308 on the board for the greens. Not to be intimidated by the huge challenge in front of them, the French gave it a go.

REVIEW

‘Savident shocked to win award’    by Aaron Scoones

Lee Savident hit a big century and picked up the player-of-the-tournament accolade as Jersey lost the final on the last day of the ECC European Second Division Championships in Glasgow. While the Caesareans lost to Norway, Guernsey celebrated a 61-run victory over France which owed much to a classy 136 from Savident. But the former Hampshire professional, who over the competition made 199 runs, took six wickets and two catches and had three quiet games out of five, was not in particularly celebratory mood. He is in no doubt that Guernsey should have done better, at least reached the final and looking forward to division one cricket instead of taking part in a meaningless play-off match. ‘I was very surprised to win it as I got two scores and then not much else,’ said Savident. ‘Without being derogatory it just goes to show the standard of the second division. We should be in division one and the boys from Scotland and Ireland that I’ve spoken to think so as well. People who don’t know us were surprised that we didn’t win it. We’re good enough but we’ve got to work on our tournament cricket.’

The awards night was held in the lavish halls of the Glasgow City Chambers and the Jersey team picked up their runner-up trophies after losing by 49 runs to Norway in the final. They also missed out on promotion to the top division. That now goes to the Norwegians. ‘I feel we had a good tournament,’ said Jersey’s captain Matt Hague. ‘It came down to one game at the end and I think Norway deserved to win. They played better on the day.’ Norway’s coach is cricket journalist Ralph Dellor. He was possibly the happiest man in Glasgow last night. ‘It’s a great effort because we were playing at a higher standard than we’ve ever done before,’ he said. ‘We qualified to get here and now we’ve emerged as winners, it’s very, very satisfying.’

Guernsey manager Dave Hearse reflected on a disappointing week by saying; ‘It was too much too late. The real Guernsey turned up today.’