Hosts fly out of the blocks

GUERNSEY hit the ground running yesterday to get their ICC European Division Two Championship campaign off to the ideal start.

Gibraltar, who had been reduced to 10 for four within the opening three overs of the competition, were defeated by seven wickets in fewer than 51 of the scheduled 100 overs at Port Soif.

'It's a good start and we have two points on the board, which is the main thing,' said island manager Dave Hearse. 'We won it quite convincingly in the end. We lost a couple of wickets, but the players may have been affected by the rain break and you can often lose wickets in situations when you are chasing a small total.'

Lee Savident and Blane Queripel, who claimed three wickets apiece, made the early inroads and later on Gibraltar contributed to their own downfall with three runs outs.