The Isle of Man have been mightily impressive in this tournament but they fell at the final hurdle today in Finland when they came up against tournament favourites Italy.

Put into bat, they struggled against some tight bowling by the Italians, scoring 101-8 from their 20 overs. Harry Manenti was the pick of the bowlers with 3-14, with Carl Hartmann’s 30 the only score of note for the Manxmen.

Italy knocked off the required runs quickly, reaching their target in the 11th over to win by 7 wickets. Marcus Campopiano top scored with an unbeaten 35.

Italy will play in the European regional final next year where they will be joined by Group C winners Denmark, the winners of Group B next week, Germany, Jersey and any other European teams that either fail to finish in the top eight at this year’s T20 World Cup or are not in the top 12 of the ICC rankings at the conclusion of the tournament.