The final match of the Scandic Challenge Series again saw bright conditions at the Svanholm Park ground here in Brøndby. Another perfect surface with pace and bounce coupled with a lightning outfield contributed to make conditions for batting perfect, and this match proved to be the closest encounter so far.

Batting first, Denmark found the going tough against some outstanding seam bowling from the Finnish pace attack, and trouble looked to be around the corner for the home team when they lost the inform Aftab Ahmed, run out for 0. The Danes had no need to panic however as opener Ali Ahktar 71 and Naveed Mughal 111 not out put together a magnificent partnership of 127 runs, both players playing with great patience, timing and indeed aggression. Ahktar finally departed in the fortieth over, and Mughal was then well supported by the in form Zameer Khan 23 and Mohsin Ali 20 in a further partnerships. For the Finn’s only Madhu Bhandari 1 for 49 was able to get into the wickets as the rampant Danes amassed an impressive 242 for 3 in their 40 overs.

In reply, Finland managed to put up their best batting performance of the series, Chris Shaw 43, Jonathan Scamans 26, and the in form Mohammed Tariq Sarfaz 24, all gave their best performances to help the visitors to a respectable 187 for 9 in their allotted 40 overs. For the home side Aftab Ahmed was again the pick of the bowlers, his pace and accuracy threatened throughout the match. There were also solid performances from youngsters, Iyhas Suami 2 for 27, Taha Ahmed 2 for 23, and under 17 off spinner, Saddique Raja 2 for 30.

National coach, Simon Talbot was again pleased with his young charges, “This week has been the start of a new era in Danish cricket, we have been producing a number of good allround performances throughout the week, but as ever, there is always room for improvement. I have been particularly pleased with our batting as a unit this week, we have been hungry for big scores, and the batsmen have been keen to produce big partnerships throughout the week. Our bowling continues to improve also, we are beginning to understand what is required at this level of cricket. Bear in mind that the Finn’s have just been promoted to Division 4 of the ICC – Europe Cricket, League, and with the exception of our captain, Naveed Mughal, the average age of our team is around nineteen. Our fielding is also continuing to improve, throughout the week we have grown from strength to strength, we can all look forward into the future with confidence”.