Guernsey’s struggles with the bat began very early as having seen Ben Fitchet survive a very strong appeal from the final ball of the first over, Martin Dale Bradley was trapped by Blampied for one at the start of the next.
Carlyon bowled Tom Nightingale for one with the first ball of the next over before taking Fitchet’s wicket with the final delivery as Guernsey slumped to 4-3.
But Stokes and skipper Nightingale steadied the innings with an excellent fourth-wicket century partnership of 122 – adding 50 runs between the ninth and 14th overs as they tried to haul Guernsey back up with the required run rate.
Nightingale registered his maiden international half-century and made 57 off 52 balls before he was run out with three balls left of the final over.
Stokes’ 62 not out came off 49 balls and was his second half-century against Jersey in as many games but it was in a losing cause.
Jersey head coach Paul Hutchison:
“It’s nice to get a good win against a good team.
“We started pretty well, we targeted around 150 to 160, so to put 160 on the board after a tough start was pleasing.
“We want to have a top eight that can go on and post a good score so it gives us a decent chance at the back end.
“We’ve got to keep chipping away at points, we’re going to collect as many points as we can and then see where it all falls.”
Guernsey captain Ollie Nightingale:
“It’s disappointing, I guess, we know Jersey pretty well.
“We didn’t get the start that we needed, but we came back into the game nicely but it wasn’t meant to be.
“Stokesy was awesome again and luckily I scored a few, but at the end of the day we’ve come here to try and win games of cricket and today it didn’t happen.”
