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Guernsey thrashed Bulgaria by eight wickets to get their 2026 T20 World Cup qualifying tournament off to an impressive start on Wednesday.

Bulgaria elected to bat first but lost their first wicket after just four balls as Dimo Nikolov was stumped by Isaac Damarell.

Martin-Dale Bradley then took 3-16, while Dane Mullen and Charlie Forshaw claimed two wickets apiece, with Mullen's run-out of last man Oscar Duff dismissing Bulgaria for just 97.

Guernsey had a much better start to their innings, with Josh Butler scoring nine runs from Danyal Ali's first over.

Butler continued to shine, ending the match just nine shy of a half-century on 41no as Matthew Stokes, who scored the winning boundary, eased Guernsey home at 99-2 after just 9.4 overs.

Tom Nightingale (28) and Ben Fitchet (20) also chipped in with the bat, while Bradley was named player of the match for his three-wicket haul.

Guernsey is hosting Group C, one of three 10-team qualifying tournaments split into two five-team groups, with the winners of each pool then facing each other.

The winners of that game progress to the final round of qualifying, another five-team group, from which the top two sides secure places at the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

Guernsey's next qualifying match will be against Malta on Thursday with their remaining Group C qualifiers against Finland and Estonia to be played on Saturday and Sunday respectively.