By Richard Boxall

Cyprus ended their ICC World T20 European Qualifying Tournament in 7th place (out of 10) after a 6-run win over Malta in their final match.

Batting first, Cyprus reached a healthy position of 92-2 in the 12th over and looked set for a big score. Mangala Gunasekara, Chamal Sadun and Scott Austin all made useful scores at a good rate, and the stage was set for further acceleration in the last 8 overs, but this did not materialise as wickets tumbled and a final score of 134-9 was disappointing, but still gave them a chance.

Malta made a steady start, but Mangala Gunasekara and Taranjit Singh, bowling right through the powerplay, kept the run rate in check so that the score after 6 overs was just 26 without loss. Scott Burdekin came on in the middle overs and made an impact on the game with 4-22 from his 4 overs.

Burdekin gambled on the rarely used leg-spin of Preetaj Deol, and the ploy worked well as the batters were unable to fathom Deol’s flighted deliveries and he conceded only 12 runs from his first three overs. After 16 overs the score stood at 90-4, with a further 45 runs required from the last 4 overs.

Deol was entrusted with another over which was unfortunately not as accurate as his first three and went for 19 runs, putting Malta right back into contention. Taranjit and Mangala were recalled for the 18th and 19th overs, which resulted in two wickets and just 13 runs, leaving 13 required from the final over.

Chamal Sadun was given the last over and bowled a couple of wides which increased the tension. However he kept his nerve and completed the over at a cost of just six runs, giving Cyprus a narrow victory and 7th place in the event.

The previous day Cyprus had lost their last group game to Denmark by a massive margin of 142 runs. Denmark have a world ranking of 41 – compared to Cyprus in 76th position – and the gulf in class was clear to see. The Cyprus bowlers tried their best, and Chamal Sadun and Taranjit Singh were relatively economical, but there was no stemming the flow of runs, as Denmark’s captain Hamid Shah made a glorious 91 out of a total of 205-4.

The Cyprus batters had no answer to the quality of the Danish bowling, with only Nalin Pathirana making double figures as the team slumped to 63-9 from their 20 overs. The result saw Denmark top the group and advance to the final against Guernsey, who won the other group.

The final was won by host nation Guernsey by 6 wickets and they will advance to the next qualifying round next year, with the eventual prize being a place in the 2026 World T20 Cup.

Spain, who beat Cyprus in their first match, finished third despite not losing a game and extended their world record T20 winning sequence to 15 matches. Their group match against Denmark was abandoned due to rain, and they finished behind the Danes due to an inferior net run rate.

Cyprus finished 4th in their group, leading to the 7th/8th place playoff win over Malta. They will look back on some good performances and some aspects where they can learn from their experiences in this event.

Final standings:-

1 Guernsey
2 Denmark
3 Spain
4 Finland
5 Estonia
6 Czech Republic
7 Cyprus
8 Malta
9= Bulgaria
9= Greece

The next domestic season begins immediately with the first five games in the Autumn T20 being played at Happy Valley on Sunday. The first match is a tasty-looking encounter between the two Spring T20 finalists, MSN Punjab Lions and champions Al Fatah.