France and Luxembourg were due to play in the annual Valletta Cup in Malta alongside the hosts, Romania and Switzerland this month, but both decided to arrive early for a T20I series for the Mdina Cup, which began on Monday, with all matches at the Marsa Sports Club.

Malta and France played twice on the opening day in two close matches. France won the first by 9 runs with Malta winning by 4 runs in the seocnd.

Malta's Zeeshan Khan scored 115 from 64 balls in the first match - against Luxembourg - on Tuesday, the highest T20I score by a Maltese player to help secure a 42 run win. Luxembourg then lost to France by 51 runs to finish the day.

Luxembourg found success in the first match yesterday, with Eliyas Jabarkhel scoring 15 from the last over to secure a four wicket win over hosts Malta. Success was short-lived though as France romped to a nine wicket win in the final match with Gustav Mckeon clubbing 82 from 45 balls to secure the tournament for his team.

The Valetta Cup started almost immediately, with France beating Malta to round out the day's action. That tournament will reach its conclusion with the final on Sunday.