The Isle of Man lost their opening game in the ICC Europe Division Two championships last night (Mon) when they went down to Norway in the final over of a thrilling match.

Playing under floodlights at the county ground in Essex, the Island were dismissed for 116 with Luke Lacey making 23, Ollie Webster 18, while Greg Hawke and Max Stokoe both hit 16.

At the start of their reply, Norway paced their innings well with opener Zahir Ashiq cracking 33 before being caught and bowled by Alex Stokoe. They were well placed before a tight spell from Max Stokoe put them behind the required run rate.

They managed to step up the pace and with two overs left Norway needed 11 runs to win. Max Stokoe then trapped Sufyan Saleem and five were wanted from the last over. After a quick single, Shahbaz Butt hit a four to win the game and end the match on a fine 36 not out.

In other matches, Belgium beat Gibraltar and Austria defeated Germany.
The Island are playing Germany this morning (Tues), then Belgium this afternoon.