Italy and Germany will contest the other semi-final at Port Soif.
For the second group match in a row, Freddie Forshaw took player-of-the-match honours for the Sarnians yesterday in their four-wicket win over Germany at the Memorial Field as they completed the group stage unbeaten, but this time it was for his vital contribution with the bat.
The hosts found themselves in a spot of bother at 47 for 3 having been set 185 for victory, but Forshaw made 62 from 79 balls and shared in a crucial fifth-wicket stand of 87 with Evan Le Huray to get their side within sight of the winning post before Barney Groves and Oscar Martin saw them home with 11.2 overs to spare.
Earlier, the highlight of the Germany innings from a Sarnian perspective came late on as Mattie Collivet pulled off an incredible return catch to dismiss Fredrick Tucker.
The Guernsey seamer delivered a full toss that the batter swatted back towards the umpire only to see the bowler fling himself back to his right and snare a terrific, sharp one-handed diving catch that had both his teammates and the crowd gasping in wonderment.
As if to prove it was no fluke, three balls later he dished up another full toss, this one lower than the first, which Maximilian Jackson drove back at him and this time Collivet got both hands down to grasp the ball between his knees to claim a second wicket in the over.
Those came as part of a good fightback from the home side as they went from staring at a potential run chase well in excess of 200 when their opponents were 148 for 4 after 38 overs to claiming the final six German wickets for 36 runs.
Germany had made a solid start to their innings with useful contributions from opener Rishi Kumar and number three Jonty Ryan before the Greens started to make inroads into the batting order thanks to spinners Groves and Alfie Gallienne.
Then contrasting batters, visiting captain Prajen Kavinkumar and Josh Tahiliani, put on 53 for the fifth wicket to put their side in a promising position until Ed Robinson brought himself back into the attack to remove both players in the same over and wrest control of the innings for Guernsey on his way to a four-wicket haul.
In yesterday’s other Group A match at Port Soif, Belgium claimed their first win of the tournament, beating France by three wickets chasing down 202.
Sweden booked their place in the semi-finals with a comprehensive 180-run Group B win over Switzerland having scored 312 for 8 at the College Field.
Meanwhile, Italy made short work of chasing down their target, requiring less than 11 overs, after bowling the Isle of Man out for 100 at the KGV.
You need to be logged in to comment.