Jersey trump Malaysia to keep promotion hopes alive

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Nat Watkins' affinity for the Royal Selangor Club track has become readily apparent after his second fifty and second Player-of-the-Match award of the week on the ground in Jersey's 10-run win over Malaysia via the DLS Method. Watkins followed his 86 three days ago in a loss to Denmark with a 79 against the tournament hosts in Jersey's total of 270 for 8.

The bulk of Jersey's runs came during an 87-run stand with Ben Stevens (47 off 59 balls). Unlike on Monday when Jersey stuttered in the last 20 overs after a solid platform had been laid by the two left-arm spinning allrounders, the middle order powered on behind a run-a-ball 52 from Nick Ferraby.

Malaysia had reached 116 for 1 in 27 overs but Watkins struck a crucial blow as rain began to fall at Royal Selangor, removing Ahmed Faiz for 47 at the start of the 28th. When the over was finished, play was halted and the wicket skewed the revised target slightly in Jersey's favour once the rain stopped, with Malaysia needing a further 115 in the final 14 overs of a 42-over chase.

Virandeep Singh played the anchor role as Suhan Alagaratnam (28 off 24 balls) and Muhammad Syahadat took a license to swing big in the aim of keeping the required run rate from climbing into double-digits. Malaysia needed 28 off 19 balls when Syahadat was run out after an indecision with Virandeep over a second run.

With Malaysia's long tail exposed following the loss of Syahadat, Cornelis Bodenstein struck twice in the 40th over while conceding just four runs. Eight came from the 41st off Anthony Hawkins-Kay, leaving Virandeep on strike to get 15 off the last over. The lanky opener struck a four off the second ball but after a dot on the third ball, he was caught off the fourth for 83.

With 11 needed off two balls, Muhammad Wafiq couldn't get either of Bodenstein's last two deliveries away and the left-arm seamer ended with 3 for 23 with a brilliant death-bowling spell to boot. The win keeps Jersey in the hunt for promotion at 2-2 while Malaysia's chances of moving up a division, which once looked very promising after starting with two wins, are now hanging by a thread after back-to-back losses.

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Denmark defend 179 to strengthen promotion hopes | Cricket

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Denmark 179 (Zameer 44, Hamid 37, Pavandeep 3-24, Wafiq 3-32) beat Malaysia 146 (Bashir 3-24, Hamid 2-18) by 33 runs

Captain Hamid Shah roars after Denmark clinches victory © Peter Della Penna

Denmark captain Hamid Shah stood out with both bat and ball as his team defended 179 to remain unbeaten and hand Malaysia their first defeat of the WCL Division Four. He struck 37 off 78 balls, anchoring the innings after they chose to bat on a difficult pitch and also picked up a couple of wickets to seal a 33-run victory at UKM-YSD Oval in Bangi.

The timing of those breakthroughs were very crucial. Malaysia were 39 runs away from winning the game, and with nine overs still left, the required rate wasn't really a challenge. However, they were six down, Hamid made it seven, breaking a feisty 53-run partnership between Suharril Fetri and Muhamad Syahadat and paved the way to a stunning victory. The last four Malaysian wickets fell for only five runs.

Hamid was also an important contributor with the bat. building on a good start provided by opener Zameer Khan's 44 off 72 balls even as the Malaysian bowlers made good use of a surface that had plenty of cracks. With boundaries hard to come by - there were only 11 in the entire 49 overs that Denmark batted - he ran aggressively throughout his innings and was very nearly run out on several occasions.

Denmark were 108 for 3 in the 33rd over when left-arm spinner Pavandeep Singh rallied Malaysia back into the match by inducing Hamid into a drive that was caught at cover. He then trapped Rizwan Mahmood lbw and induced another ill-advised drive, this time from Taranjit Bharaj, to finish with 3 for 24 from his 10 overs.

Momentum swung back Denmark's way thanks to a brilliant late cameo by Mads Henriksen, who swatted a series of boundaries over the leg side as he raced to 32 off 28 balls taking the score to 170 on a pitch where 160 looked par. Denmark were eventually bowled out in the 49th over with new-ball bowler Muhammad Wafiq wiping out the tail with his 3 for 32.

Malaysia's chase got off to a disastrous start when captain Anwar Arudin was run out off the second ball trying to run off a misfield at midwicket. After Bashir Shah struck another key blow to remove Ahmed Faiz, Suhan Alagaratnam and Shafiq Sharif teamed up for a 40-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

But just as Malaysia were pulling away, debutant left-arm spinner Nicolaj Laegsgaard beat Alagaratnam's back foot prod to bowl the middle-order star for 26. Offspinner Saif Ahmad had Sharif caught at mid-off and suddenly the score was 88 for 6 with Denmark in firm possession of the game. They had to weather unexpected resistance assault from the tail but now are looking at a scenario where a win over Uganda on Thursday will clinch them promotion with a match to spare in the group stage.

Peter Della Penna is ESPNcricinfo's USA correspondent @PeterDellaPenna

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