European Cricket League: Jersey champions Farmers make Group B knockout stage

Farmers opener Joel Dudley's 40 against VOC Rotterdam took him to 83 runs from his three innings

Jersey's Farmers guaranteed two chances to make the final of European Cricket League Group B after two wins.

The island champions beat Dutch side VOC Rotterdam by 19 runs in the first of two games on Friday - Joel Dudley's 40 was the pick of some good batting as Farmers safely defended 130-3.

In their second game, they beat Indo-Bulgarian by eight wickets.

Some fine Farmers bowling restricted their opponents to 57-8 - a target they reached in 5.5 overs.

Farmers' three wins from four outings means they can finish no lower than second in the group, meaning they will play Danish side Svanholm in a qualifying match for the final on Saturday.

Should they lose that match, they will play the winner of a game between the third-placed and fourth-placed sides in the pool for a second chance to make the final.

The winners of the final will return to play off for the title later this month.

• Win and loss for Farmers on opening day

An impressive 45 runs off the final two overs proved to be decisive as Farmers beat 2019 champions VOC Rotterdam.

Farmers openers Dudley and Zak Tribe put on 67 in 5.5 overs for the first wicket before Dudley was trapped lbw, having hit three sixes and four fours in his 20-ball 40.

Tribe (28) went an over later before his younger brother Asa (20) and Lawrenson put on 42 for the third wicket, as Farmers hit five sixes and a four in the final two overs - with Lawrenson's 27 not out coming from 11 balls.

In reply, VOC struggled to keep with Farmers' run-rate as Arnav Jain and Tim de Kok put on 44 for the first wicket off five overs, before De Kok went for 24 off 18 balls.

Jain was caught an over later for 25 with the score at 73-2, before Pieter Seelaar and Jelte Schoonheim tried to guide the Dutch side home.

They could not match Farmers' late innings run-rate, despite scoring 31 runs from the final two overs. The pair each hit three sixes and a four as they both reached 27 not out off 13 balls, but the Dutch side ended on 111-2 from their 10 overs.

Farmers bowlers impress

Player of the Match Charles Perchard took figures of 2-7 before hitting 41 runs in the win over Indo-Bulgarian

Indo-Bulgarian opener Prakash Mishra was caught by Asa Tribe off Charles Perchard's bowling for a duck with the second ball of their innings, while Chris Webster was caught off William Perchard for six an over later as the Bulgarians were reduced to 12-2.

Jersey international captain Charles Perchard bowled a rare maiden with his second over and claimed Jamie Batten's wicket for a duck, his figures of 2-7 leaving the Bulgarian side on 13-3 after three overs.

Opener Adrian Dunbar provided the only resistance with 23 off 15 balls before being caught off George Richardson's bowling to leave his side to 43-4 midway through the seventh over.

The Bulgarians threw caution to the wind in the final overs but failed to make much headway as they lost four wickets for three runs to end on 57-8 - Stan Norman took 3-16 and Richardson 2-9.

In reply, Zak Tribe was out for one, trapped lbw by Prakash Mishra, with the score on 16-1.

But Asa Tribe and opener Charles Perchard guided the islanders close to victory with a 37-run second-wicket stand before Perchard was caught on the boundary for 41 off 21 balls, including two sixes and five fours.