Jersey beaten twice by Spain in opening matches of 2024

Jonty Jenner carried on his good form from helping Old Victorians make the final round of the European Cricket League in Spain last month

Jersey lost their first two matches under new head coach Paul Hutchison as they fell to back-to-back Twenty 20 defeats by Spain at Cartagena.

The islanders - who made the final European stages of qualification for the T20 World Cup - lost their opening game by five wickets.

They suffered another close defeat in their second game as they were beaten by one wicket over 20 overs.

In July Jersey will play 2026 T20 World Cup qualifiers in Germany.

Jersey started well in their first game as Harrison Carlyon (48) and Patrick Gouge (52) put on 89 for the first wicket.

Zak Tribe went on to hit 23 and Jonty Jenner 43 as the islanders scored 195-5 off their 20 overs.

But in reply Spain reached their target with two balls to spare as Muhammad Babar and Daniel Doyle-Calle each scored 46.

In their second game Jersey were 141 all out with a ball to spare at the end of the final over.

A decent start took them to 100-3 off 10 overs as Harrison Carlyon got 19, Jenner scored 38 and Gouge top scored with 48 off 27 balls including four sixes, but Jersey's lower order failed them as no more islanders hit double figures.

In reply Spain made 145-9 off their 20 overs with Zak Tribe and Dan Birrell each taking three wickets as no home batter scored above Muhammad Ihsan's mark of 27.

Jersey, who were without professional players such as Asa Tribe and Nick Greenwood, did beat Spain in an unofficial T20 match on Saturday - Zak Tribe scored 50 and Charlie Brennan 48 not out as the islanders hit Jersey 154-6 before bowling out Spain for 141 in reply.

• ABBA's definitive story: How much do you really know about Sweden’s biggest musical export?

• Why was the video sharing platform, Vine, closed down?: Toast analyses the pioneering app's fortunes and misfortunes