CIYMS have made it to Finals week at the European T10 Championships.

After a stuttering passage on the first two days, when the Ireland T20 champions lost two of their four group games, they had to win three knock-out games on Saturday – the first two against their group victors - to extend their stay. And they did it in some style.

Jason van der Merwe was the star in the Eliminator match and semi-final, scoring a remarkable 89 from 32 balls (six fours and eight sixes) against their Portuguese opposition in the first match and then, somehow, upstaging that with 95 not out from 30 balls (seven fours, nine sixes) against Istanbul to reach the final.

Van der Merwe’s final runs tally for the week was 315 runs at a strike rate of 230

CI’s final  opponents were Ariana of Sweden and although van der Merwe was out for 15, Carson McCullough top scored with 51 in CI’s 102 for five. The bowlers then finished with job in just 37 balls, the Swedes bowled out for just 25 which included a hat-trick for Chris Robinson.

McCullough and Jacob Mulder also took three wickets each, the Ireland international finishing the three days with 14 wickets.

The Belmont side’s opposition this week is from France, Jersey, England, and Belgium plus two from Spain, with teams playing a round-robin competition over the next four days, ahead of Finals day on Friday.