Netherlands XI beat England XI in the final by four wickets. ECN

Netherlands XI beat England to the European Cricket Championship title

The last day of the competition also saw dark horses Spain put on brave performances at the Cártama Oval

shay conaghan

Saturday, 15 October 2022 | Updated 19/10/2022 17:13h.

Netherlands XI have been crowned the winners of the European Cricket Championship after they defeated reigning champions England XI at the Cártama Oval on Friday night.

The Dutch side, who enjoyed a resurgence later on in the week after trailing Spain in the group, beat their English opponents by four wickets in the final.

They had booked their place in the final after breezing past Spain in Qualifier 1 by 30 runs early in the morning.

England XI, after achieving a third-place finish in their Championship Week group, secured progress to Qualifier 2 after narrowly beating Scotland XI by eight runs.

England then handed Spain their fourth defeat on the bounce and ended their fairytale run in the competition with a 15-run win.

The Spaniards had looked good until Thursday, but they then seemed to fold against the other nations in the latter stages of the tournament after winning the first six matches.