Division 2 of the European Championship got underway in the Netherlands yesterday, with wins for Denmark and Guernsey.

The hosts took on Denmark at the VOC Ground in Rotterdam, with captain Bas de Leede winning the toss and choosing to bat first. The Dutch found runs hard to come by, with their top score being Alyan Razagi's 29, though they were helped by 43 extras - including 25 wides - conceded by their opponents.

Denmark's bowlers spread the wickets around with four of them each taking two wickets. The last Dutch wicket fell on the last ball of their 50 overs as they were bowled out for 170.

The visitors had little trouble chasing down their target, knocking off the runs in 35 overs to win by 7 wickets. Shangeev Thanikaithasan top scored for them with an unbeaten 56, sharing in an unbroken partnership of 98 for the fourth wicket with Oliver Damgaard, who contributed 46. It was Denmark's first win over the Netherlands in an ICC Europe Under-19 tournament since 2002.

Over at VRA in Amstelveen, Guernsey captain Ant Stokes won the toss and chose to bat first against Italy. It was another low scoring game, with Guernsey only managing 171 before they were bowled out in the 41st over. Louis Falla top scored with 31, whilst Siddiq Mehran and Ullah Zaka both took three wickets for Italy.

In reply, Italy found themselves on the backfoot at 49-4 before captain Meade Riccardo and Kumar Ankush put on 83 to get them back in the game. The partnership ended when Ankush was dismissed for 36, sparking a mini collapse that saw Italy lose four wickets for just seven runs.

Riccardo batted on to score 52 before he was the ninth man out, and the final wicket fell soon after to leave Italy out for 156, losing by 15 runs.

The tournament continues today with the Netherlands playing Italy and Guernsey taking on Denmark.

Results

Netherlands Under-19s lost to Denmark Under-19s by 7 wickets
VOC, Rotterdam, 23 July
Netherlands Under-19s 170 (50 overs)
Denmark Under-19s 171-3 (35 overs, S Thanikaithasan 56*, O Damgaard 46*, L Kroesen 3-52)

Guernsey Under-19s beat Italy Under-19s by 15 runs
VRA, Amstelveen, 23 July
Guernsey Under-19s 171 (40.2 overs, Siddiq Mehran 3-8, Ullah Zaka 3-33)
Italy Under-19s 156 (48.3 overs, M Riccardo 52, K Ankush 36, D le Messurier 3-32)