Belfast Wolves kept it 'nice and simple' to secure spot in European T20 Premier League play-offs

The Wolves have narrowly squeezed into Saturday’s qualifier after finishing third in the inaugural season of the fresh franchise competition.

Glenn Maxwell’s side will now face Amsterdam Flames with the winner progressing to face table-toppers Edinburgh Castle Rockers in Sunday’s final at Malahide.

Four of the six teams finished level on 13 points from 10 matches with only net run-rate separating them – Edinburgh topped the pile with Amsterdam second and the Wolves third while Rotterdam Dockers missed out.

Belfast finished their campaign with a nine-run win over Edinburgh on Thursday, but knew if Rotterdam defeated Dublin Guardians on the same afternoon that their tournament would be over.

However, England’s James Vince (106*) starred in Dublin’s successful chase of 189 with Rotterdam ultimately falling short.

"We knew there were some permutations around run-rate, but we knew we needed to come out and win a game of cricket,” Tucker told the ETPL social media channels. “We achieved that.

"It was nice and simple (team talk), we didn’t want to get caught up too much in any of the external stuff, we can only focus on what we can do in any given game and we were able to do that.

"It’s been great to be here at home. We had a brilliant couple of weeks in Voorburg and great to have games here in Malahide, it’s special.”

Wolves captain Maxwell (82*) led from the front for his side, striking four sixes during his 40-ball stay at the crease, while David Miller (38) and Harry Manenti (34) chipped in with important contributions.

Maxwell’s men were left with an anxious wait to discover their play-off fate, but was happy with his personal performance.

"It felt decent, it would have been nice if we could have won by a little bit more,” said Maxwell. “We did everything we could.

"With the conditions and the weather coming in during the second innings, it made it a little bit difficult, but it felt like we put ourselves in a great situation to potentially get it done.

"I took a couple of gambles earlier in my innings which allowed me to get into the game and probably forced them to bowl a bit more defensively, which then I was able to score off most balls.

"I never really felt like I was getting stuck at one end and it opened it up a bit...to take those first few risks, I probably took big gambles and got away with them.

"You need to be brave and find a way to put the pressure back on.”