Cricket: IoM Women win Valletta Cup

Barnett and Hicks also claim individual honours in Malta

The Isle of Man women's cricket team secured silverware this weekend by winning the 2024 Women's Valletta Cup in Malta.

The Manx side beat Greece by seven wickets in Sunday's final of the event reaching the target of 91 runs in just 8.5 overs after Greece had batted first, setting the benchmark at 90-3.

For the Island squad, Lucy Barnett produced the standout batting display managing 67 not-out off 34 balls with 13 further runs coming from Sam Hassall (six not-out), Caitlin Henery (five) and Kim Carney (two) with 11 extras also added.

The previous batting innings had seen Maria Syrioti manage the best batting total at 25 off 57 balls before being run out by Isle of Man's Finnola Martin.

Along with claiming the cup honours, two Isle of Man players took individual prizes for their performances across the tournament.

Jo Hicks' haul of ten wickets saw her named bowler of the tournament whilst Barnett was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) and batter of the tournament after amassing 282 runs including three half-centuries.

The Isle of Man finish the competition with a perfect record of four wins from four matches - outside of the final they also beat Greece in the group phase along with taking victories over hosts Malta as well as Serbia.

This also comes after the Isle of Man had claimed a 3-0 bilateral series win over Malta from 17-20 August.

Furthermore, the latest run of results sees the Isle of Man rise two places in the ICC Women's T20I rankings to 38th, moving above Sweden and Luxembourg.