The Isle of Man lost their first game in ICC Europe Division Two tournament at Copenhagen when they went down by 47 runs to Italy.

The Manx, who were sponsored by Isle of Man Bank, made a good start and had Italy in trouble at 33 for 3 after eleven overs. They were then hit by a match winning stand by Shenal Amarakoon and Saiful Anik.

The pair took 34 overs to put on 150 with Amarakoon scoring 74 before being dismissed by Andy Vels. Shortly afterwards Anik was run out for 73 and the next three wickets fell for 14 runs.

Nick White took 3 -31 and there were wickets also for Vels and Sam Kebbell. Matt Ansell put down ten accurate overs for only 30 runs, but Italy reached an imposing 210 for 8 from their fifty overs.

The Island began their reply steadily and at 78 for 2 were in with a chance. Then Jack Newberry was run out for 16 and the run rate dropped.

Skipper Rowan Bird fell lbw to Zeeshan Faiz for 29 and the middle order found scoring difficult against an accurate attack.

Sam Kebbell hit out for 22 before being caught and another run out saw Brendan Coleman depart for 18. Joe Burrows made 12 not out as the side ended on a creditable 163 for 9.

The deciding factor in the match was the fine Italian stand between Amarakoon and Anik. In fact no other Italian batsman reached double figures.

The Manx play Denmark in their next game which will also be 50 overs per side. Then all three countries meet each other in two Twenty20 matches.