A fine all-round performance from Israeli captain Herschel Gutman has led Israel to their first ever win over Germany as they ended their ICC European Championship Division Two campaign with a 56-run win.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Israel started their innings steadily but lost wickets, reaching 51 when the danger-man Eshkol Solomon was the fourth wicket down in the 14th over. This brought Herschel Gutman to the crease and he played what was very much a captain’s innings.

Gutman put on 66 for the fifth wicket with Gabriel Schachat and 74 for the sixth wicket with Josh Evans, playing the dominant role in each of those partnerships. Gutman was eventually out for 73 with the score on 194, and the tail added a further 28 runs to help Israel finish on 222, bowled out with one over to spare.

Germany’s reply started badly, with the Israeli opening bowlers having them on 9-3 in 5.4 overs. But the fourth wicket pairing of Andre Leslie and Tarun Rawat recovered the innings, putting on 103 together. Leslie was out having scored 39, and Rawat followed him five overs later having scored 54.

Once those two were gone, the German reply lost its impetus, and the game drifted towards its inevitable conclusion. Gutman finished with 4-20 to complete his all-round performance and Germany were bowled out for 166 with one ball remaining.