SPAIN HAVE MIXED FORTUNES IN TRIANGULAR TORNEO
La Manga played host to a fantastic tripartite torneo this weekend with teams from Gibraltar and Belgium joining Spain in a mini event that was being used as a pre-cursor by Spain and Belgium for the ICC Twenty20 torneo in Belgium in the summer, and by Gibraltar to experiment and try out some new players for the future.
First up on a blustery day with rain in the air was Spain v Belgium. Both teams were missing key players, Belgium had a couple of first teamers missing due to work commitments and for Spain Tanveer Iqbal was not playing because he was with his wife who had just given birth to their first child.
Spain won the toss and elected to bat. Sporting Alfas pair Shafique Ali and Mark Spencer opened up for the hosts and the signs were good for the home supporters as the pair raced to 51 without loss off just 4.5 overs. With the last ball of the 5th over Ali was caught by Butt off the bowling of Mahammad for a “gung-ho” 38. Spanish captain Morgan came in next and looked to be in good form until (with the score on 82) he went for a suicidal second run and was well out of his crease to give the visitors their second wicket.
This triggered a collapse in the home sides batting and an healthy start was frittered away as Spain went from 82 for 2 to 111 for 8. Two further needless run outs contributed to Spain´s freefall but a sensible innings by young Christian Munoz and a quick fire 26 by Farhat off 18 balls gave Spain a final competitive total of 153 for 8 off their full quota of overs.
Belgiums reply got off to the worst possible start when Mahammad was caught at deep third man by Farhat off the first ball of their innings. Young Jamie Farmiloe came to the crease and along with the other opener Sunny Shailk put the visitors into a winning position.
Some wayward bowling did not help Spain´s cause and the visitors were still in control despite losing their second wicket when Shailk fell for a well crafted 45 . Not to be outdone Belgium´s dangerman Butt came in and slaughtered the Spanish bowling hitting 66 off just 32 balls. Butt fell with the score on 135 in the 16th over but by that time the damage was done and the visitors raced passed their target with two overs and seven wickets to spare.
Spain´s fantastic start was marred by poor running between the wickets and short length bowling but the difference between the sides was minimal and all concerned were looking forward to the re-match the following day. Fans were not going to be dissapointed.
SPAIN BATTING
S Ali Ct Butt B Mahammad 38
M Spencer Bowled Waqas 20
J Morgan Run Out 7
Armaghan Khan Ct ? B Waqas 6
G Crompton Ct ? B Waqas 6
P Venus Run Out 1
C Munoz Not Out 20
W Rehman Ct ? B A Rehman 2
I Khan Run Out 1
F Mohammad Not Out 26
Talat Ali Dnb
Extras 26
Total 153 for 8 off 20 overs
BELGIUM BOWLING
A Rehman 4-0-24-1
S Newport 2-0-23-0
S Mohammad 4-0-43-1
S Butt 4-0-21-0
W Shafiq 4-0-16-3
S Khan 1-0-13-0
J Iqbal 1-0-6-0
BELGIUM BATTING
S Shailk lbw Munoz 45
S Mohammad Ct Farhat B Talat 0
J Farmiloe Not Out 41
S Butt Ct Armaghan B I Khan 66
A Rehman Not Out 7
Extras 27
Total 156 for 3 off 18.5 overs
SPAIN BOWLING
Talat 3.5-0-28-1
C Munoz 4-0-29-1
P Venus 4-0-31-0
W Rehman 3-0-18-0
Farhat 2-0-20-0
I Khan 2-0-25-1
Belgium won by 7 wickets
The second game of the day matched Spain up against Gibraltar. The visitors had a few players who had played for their country in Kuwait last year but the majority were youngsters looking to step up to the plate and push for a place in the senior squad at the forthcoming torneo in Guernsey.
Spain again won the toss and batted. In form Christian Munoz joined Shafique Ali in a different opening partnership and again the hosts got off to a scorching start clattering 68 off the first 7 overs. At this point Ali was caught and bowled by Andrew Reyes.
Skipper Morgan joined Munoz at the crease and the two youngest players in the Spanish ranks showed maturity beyond their years as they celebrated a patnership of 83 before Morgan was caught by Collier off Gibraltar´s skipper Latin for 46. Munoz went on to complete a fine half century before both he and Crompton fell with the score on 174.
It was left to Armaghan and Irshad Khan and Talat Ali to push the final score to 184 for 6 off the full 20 overs. A daunting task lay ahead for the Gibraltar youngsters.
Gibraltar stuttered fron ball one and were soon in deep trouble at 11 for 3 off just 3 overs.Richard Collier and Dave Coram did their chances of joining the senior squad in Guernsey no harm by scoring 37 and 20 respectively, and skipper Ian Latin showed his quality with a fine 47 not out. However, the strong Spanish total never looked like being overhauled and the visitors finally ended the game on 159 for 6, just 25 runs shy of victory. A valiant effort considering the make-up of their squad.
SPAIN BATTING
S Ali Ct & Bowled Reyes 34
C Munoz Ct Latin B Bokhari 53
J Morgan Ct Collier B Latin 46
G Crompton Ct Boumach B Bokhari 15
I Khan Bowled Latin 3
A Khan Not Out 2
T Ali Run Out 0
S Hussein Dnb
M Husseini Dnb
P Venus Dnb
M Spencer Dnb
Extras 31
Total Score 184 for 6 off 20 overs
GIBRALTAR BOWLING
J Bokhari 4-0-31-2
Y Boumach 3-0-32-0
A Reyes 3-0-24-1
M Hunter 4-0-28-0
K Ferrary 2-0-32-0
I Latin 4-0-33-2
GIBRALTAR BATTING
R Collier Stumped S Ali B Akmal 37
J Bokhari Ct S Ali B Mohib 3
K Ferrary Ct S Ali B Mohib 1
C Auchano Ct Morgan B Talat 2
D Coram Bowled Farhat 20
I Latin Not Out 47
J Lutman Bowled Farhat 8
M Hunter Not Out 2
A Reyes Dnb
Y Boumach Dnb
C Gomilla Dnb
Extras 29
Total 159 for 6 off 20 overs
SPAIN BOWLING
T Ali 4-0-21-1
Mohib 4-0-30-2
A Khan 3-0-31-0
I Khan 3-0-16-0
M Akmal 3-0-31-1
Farhat 3-0-18-2
Spain won by 25 runs
The final game of the day was a one sided affair with Belgium easily seeing off a spirited effort from Gibraltar. At the end of day one Belgium headed the table with two wins, followed by Spain and then Gibraltar in first place. The games were reversed for the following day with first up Gibraltar v Belgium, followed immediately with Spain v Gibraltar. Lunch of 30 minutes will be taken at the Si Bar before the final game of the tournament, which will be Spain v Belgium.
Belgium P2 W2 T0 L0 Points 4
Spain P2 W1 T0 L1 Points 2
Gibraltar P2 W0 T0 L2 Points 0