Loss against Belgium puts Finland bottom of table

3/5/2014

Belgium was Finlands third opponent in the Pepsi ICC Europe Division 3 tournament in La Manga, Spain. Finland's loss meant Belgium is only undefeated team left in the tournament after Israel bowled Spain for 111 and then chased that in 17.5 overs for the loss of three wickets.

We will publish the full Match Report in pdf on this page when it becomes available, but until then you can enjoy an updated version of the live report published on Cricket Finland's Facebook page during the match below or the scorecard here.

Click to view the Standings Table

View the CricHQ scorecard online.

Belgium v Finland, April 2, 2014

1st innings - Belgium

Belgium bats first in Finland's 3rd game in their Pepsi ICC Europe Division 3 encounter.
Golden duck for Sahid Muhammad as he is well caught by Jonathan Scamans off the bowling of Tariq Sarfraz.
Belgium is unbeaten in the tournament so far and have reached 40-1 after 4 overs with former Zimbabwe Test bowler Brighton Watambwa at the crease.
2nd wicket falls: Watambwa goes for 23, caught by Tariq Sarfraz off Saiful Islam!
Belgium are 3 wickets down, as Bilal Kahn bowls Mamoon Latif for 16 in the 6th over! The score is 47 for 3 after six overs.
Important 4th wicket: Wagas Shafiq stumped for 35 off Ekhpelwak Kuchey! Well done wicketkeeper Jonathan Scamans! Score 91 for 4 after 12 overs.
And the fifth wicket falls off the first ball of the next over: Jamie Farmiloe is caught for 9 by Zahidullah Kamal off Finland's captain Amrik Bhatia.
And Bhatia takes two in the same over, bowling Sheraz Sheikh Muhammad for a duck.
It's a Belgian collapse: Ekhpelwak Kuchey bowls Abdul Rehman for 1, The score is 96/7 after 14 overs.
Good 15th over for Belgium as Reyhan Faiz halts the collapse with two sixes. Score 111 for 7 after 15.
134 for 7 after 18 overs. Can our guys keep Belgium to under 150?
Alas, Reyhan Faiz hits the last ball for his fith six of the match, helping Belgium to post 157 for 7.
Let's see what Finland can do when they get to chase for the first time in this tournament...

2nd innings - Finland

Finland's openers are still at the crease after three overs and the score is 18 for none.
31 for none after six overs, with two fours for Jonathan Scamans and three fours for Shakil Islam.
Shakil Islam is run out at the end of the 9th over by Wagas Shafiq, having scored 28 off 31 balls.
Manoj Achchige gets off the mark first ball, belting the ball low and hard to long off for four. 56-1 after 10 overs.
But then Achchige is run out by Watambwa for 6.
Zahidullah Kamal is caught by S Muhammad off Reyhan Faiz for 4 and Finland are three down. The score is 70 for three at 12.3 overs.
78 for four: Ekhpelwak Kuchey caught by Belgium's wicketkeeper Mahesh Krishnamoorthy for 6 off Abdul Rehman in the 15th over.
Bilal Kahn out for 9, caught & bowled Abdul Rehman. 90 for five after 16.2 overs.
Jonathan Scamans has scored 27 when he is given out LBW off Abdul Rehman. Finland are reeling at 95 for six after 17 overs.
Madhu Bhandari is caught by Wagas Shafiq off Faisal Khaliq for 10. The score is 107-7 after 17.5 overs and Finland needs to score only boundaries from now on to make a match of this.
Tariq Sarfraz out for 1, caught by wicketkeeper Krishnamoorthy off Rehman, who has snagged four wickets so far. Will he make it a five-for or will Finland hold out?
M Saiful Islam strokes Rehman's last ball along the ground to long off for 1 run, but is bowled by Faisal Khaliq in the next over: 112-9 with five balls for the tail-enders to survive.
And so, unfortunately, Finland has lost the third game as well. But well played and congratulations to Belgium, who continue their undefeated run!