With the weather having won on Saturday when both matches of their double-header with Switzerland were started and abandoned, the two sides returned to the KGV on Sunday for game three of the Darwin Escapes T20I Series and the hosts showed why they are 10 places above the Swiss in the ICC rankings with a comfortable seven-wicket victory.
Having elected to bowl first, the Greens got off to a fast start with Luke Bichard claiming the scalps of both openers either side of Hassan Ahmad being run out by Matt Stokes, all inside the first four overs.
For much of the Switzerland innings it looked as if they might struggle to reach three figures as they were tied down by the home bowlers, with Martin-Dale Bradley and Stokes picking up a wicket apiece along the way.
However, some hefty blows from Malyar Stanikzai, who made 35 off just 22 balls, with three fours and a couple of sixes, gave the innings some late impetus.
He shared in a sixth-wicket stand of 45 with Isaac Stewart that almost doubled their side’s score in less than five overs before Charlie Forshaw and Bichard returns to the attack at the death to remove them as the Swiss ended on 122 for 7.
There was a new-look opening partnership to get the reply under way with Lucas Barker joined by teenage debutant Ed Robinson and they gave Guernsey a productive start, taking 47 from the first five overs before Barker was caught behind attempting a reverse scoop.
Robinson continued to anchor the innings, initially alongside Tom Nightingale and then Stokes as Guernsey eased to within one run of victory with two overs to go, but the youngster could not quite see the job through as his attempt to go over the top resulted in him falling for 42.
His efforts still earned him the player of the match award, though, while it was perhaps fitting that captain Ollie Nightingale was on strike when his side ended a busy summer with a win – albeit with a leg-bye.
The skipper was pleased to notch up a positive result after the frustration of the previous day.
‘We played some good cricket in patches [on Saturday], but not to get a result was disappointing, but to come back today and play fairly well for the last game of the season, delighted,’ he said, before adding a word of praise for Robinson.
‘A really good effort. He’s been in and around the group, probably hasn’t got the opportunity that he wanted up until now, but he played nicely today and he did what we asked of him in the powerplay, so good on him.’
Despite the lack of a result on Saturday, there was a personal milestone for Stokes as he became the first Guernsey player to pass 1,000 runs in T20Is during a typically classy 73 in game one when he and the captain shared a stand of 98.
On Friday evening, in a practice match between a youthful Guernsey XI and the visitors, U19 bowlers Evan Le Huray, Sam Gregson, Freddie Forshaw and Alfie Gallienne all finished with wickets and excellent figures as Switzerland were bowled out for 90, before a half-century from Tom Nightingale helped knock off the runs in less than a dozen overs.
It was no surprise, therefore, that the skipper felt the weekend was a worthwhile exercise overall, in spite of the rain.
‘We know Stokesy’s very good, so didn’t find too much out there, but look it’s good to play cricket against these sort of European teams that we’re going to come up against in the tournament next summer, so really good prep for that,’ said Ollie Nightingale.
‘Then today we found out that Ed can compete and can play at this level, which is really, really pleasing. Frithy’s backed him for a long period of time and said that we should get him in. So kudos to Frithy for doing it and for him going out there and scoring the runs.’
Although the Island squad will now have a deserved break after a busy season, preparations for next summer when they return to sub-regional qualifying for the T20 World Cup will begin shortly.
‘It’s been a tough summer,’ Nightingale said.
‘Obviously we played Jersey three times in three T20s, and then you go to Holland and you play teams all ranked much higher than you, and that’s going to be tough.
‘But I think when we went out there, we held our own, and when we played Jersey we probably could have come away from the series 3-0, so we’ve been a bit unlucky.
‘We’ve done some really good things, and done some okay things, so it’s a good time to reflect. Our tournament looks like it’s going to be early next summer, so regroup in a couple of weeks, do some debriefing and then see where we end up.’
He also added that the medium to long-term future of the squad was looking promising.
‘Shout out to Lucas, he’s come back into it so we’ve gained a good player there. He’s shown today what he can do. He’s got us off to a really quick start and hopefully on a mat he’s more dangerous again. So, great to have him back involved.
‘And that’s the aim. You’re trying to make more competition for places and grow the player pool, and I think we’re heading in the right direction.
‘We’ve used so many youngsters this season and all of them have done really well in patches. Like on Friday night, the under-19 bowling attack basically bowled Switzerland out for 90. Well done to them and we hope they’re involved next year. If they keep progressing, they’ll be pushing the guys on the team.’
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