Day 3 of the Scandic Cricket Challenge Series at Svanholm Park in Brøndby, and the series has moved into the T20 part of the Finish visit. Sunshine and a few clouds greeted the players for the start of this popular format of the game, and it was the Danes that won the toss and decided to bat on a perfect batting wicket in the two match challenge series. Danish openers Aftab Ahmed (27) and Kamran Mahmood (43) got the home team off to a flying start, adding 53 for the first wicket, then it was left to Skipper Naveed Mughal (61) and the in form Taha Ahmed (34*) to smash their way to a very impressive 199 for 4 wickets off their allotted twenty overs, indeed only Rajesh Singe for the Finn’s showed any form in claiming 3 for 35 with the ball. In reply the Flying Finn’s set off at a great rate of knots in chasing the Danes total. Opener Mohammed Tariq Sarfaz (22) and middle order hit man Zakiullah Kamal 19 tried in vain to claw the visitors back into the game, but they met two in form bowlers, Basit Raja 4 for 26 and Mohsin Ali 3 for 5 as they were dismissed for 110 inside their twenty overs. This was another terrific allround performance from the young Danish team, the bowlers and fielders both showed experience beyond their years as they fought to contain the rampant early order batting.

Game 2, and as the sun continued to shine down in Brøndby, it was Finland that took the plunge and decided to bat on the still perfect batting surface. Once again it was the flashing blades of Sarfaz 10 and Kamal 18 that got the visitors off to another flying start, and on this occasion they were well supported by Bilal Khan 36, as they amassed a lowly target of 118. Once again there were some outstanding bowling performances from the young Danes, Suleman Arshad 4 for 20, Aftab Ahmed 2 for 17 and Basit Raja 2 for 30 all helped in the demise of the visiting Finn’s. Set the lowest total of the series, the Danes took the opportunity to try out a new opening partnership, and it turned out to be a masterstroke decision. Openers Shezad Ahmed 77 and Zameer Khan 37 set about building the perfect batting partnership of 118 as they chased down the modest Finland total in just 14.3 overs.

National A Team assistant coach, Gary Glissen, was very pleased with the result of his young team, but felt that there were still areas to improve on, ‘T20 is an area of the game that we really do have to master over the next few years. The game itself is an exciting format of the game, and we have some exciting young players that suit this format perfectly. In all aspects of the game we showed signs of improvement, particularly in our batting partnerships and individual efforts with both bat and ball. We must continue to improve in all components of the game as we will be facing much tougher challenges in the future.”