Slovenia meanwhile leapfrogged Austria to grab the second place following a huge 246-metre jump by World Cup champion Peter Prevc, finishing only 0.1 points ahead of the northern neighbours.

The competition was more exciting than expected, as the heavily favoured Norwegians had only a 9.1 point advantage ahead of Slovenia after the first series.

"Like on Friday, I managed a good jump in the second series," Prevc told reporters, adding that he wanted another good showing in the last event on Sunday. "It will be hard, as there will be 30,000 people down there again expecting a lot from me."

Slovenian head coach Goran Janus admitted that "Norway is currently number 1 and, to be realistic, we competed today for the second spot," adding that all four Slovenian jumpers performed excellently.

The Slovenian team featuring Prevc, Jurij Tepeš, Anže Semenič and Robert Kranjec also solidified Slovenia's second place in the nation's cup, extending the lead over third-placed Germany to 222 points. Norwegians are meanwhile firmly in lead.

The four-day festivities at Planica will conclude on Sunday with the third and last individual event.

* Results of Saturday's team event at Planica:
1 Norway 1627.4 points
(Daniel-Andre Tande 223.0/224.5 m, Anders Fannemel 234.0/233.5,
Kenneth Gangnes 233.0/239.0, Johann Forfang 210.0/233.5)
2 Slovenia 1569.0
(Jurij Tepeš 225.0/234.5, Anže Semenič 210.0/211.5, Robert Kranjec
231.5/208.0, Peter Prevc 229.5/246.0)
3 Austria 1568.9
(Stefan Kraft 226.0/241.0, Manuel Poppinger 215.0/208.5, Manuel
Fettner 215.0/224.0, Michael Hayböck 235.5/233.5)
4 Japan 1477.2
5 Germany 1473.3
6 Poland 1472.1
7 Czech Republic 1384.3
8 USA 1142.6

* Nation's cup standings:
1 Norway 7028 points
2 Slovenia 5558
3 Germany 5336
4 Austria 4565
5 Japan 3006
6 Poland 2114
7 C. Republic 1864
8 Switzerland 761
9 Finland 256
10 France 217