Phoenix CC 4 6 Robin Sperling lbw b Leckonby 5 1 0 Yusaf Akbar b Leckonby 0 0 0 Aneyas Moghe + c Glover b Kaushik 0 0 0 Adrian Zador c Glover b Kaushik 42 4 3 Brandon Kruger b Leckonby 0 0 0 Benjamin Lebor * lbw b Kaushik 0 0 0 John Schultz run out 18 1 2 Sameer not out 0 0 0 Ranjit Kumar not out 21 3 1 Gurudutt dnb 0 0 Premnath Rao dnb 0 0 Extras 8nb 13w 1b 2lb 24 Total 17.5 overs for 7 110

Phoenix CC won by 3 wickets

Despite the last-minute change of days, both teams managed to scratch together a new-look 11 to turn up on Sunday – in fact, Phoenix managed to find 13 so there was even the chance for the same two umpires to officiate throughout the match. Great!

After no cricket for the Baggies in the month of July, the team was excited and determined to prove that no cobwebs had formed in the dormant period. A slight delay to the start allowed time for the length of the pitch and the creases to be corrected, and allowed for sweat to already be flowing freely from all under the hot, hot sun. Then things were up and running.

The first over of August was not what the Blues had planned as things started poorly – well, terribly – captain Andrew Leckonby back in the shade with a need to cool off: LBW for 0 and 1 for 1 on the board. 'Slow and Steady' became the only way forward against some fine bowling from Ranjit, Yusaf and Gurudutt: Matt Watson-Broughton and Mike Glover steadied the ship (shakily with dropped catches and a wicket on a no-ball helping the cause) to reach 1 for 29, but a steady flow of wickets and only a trickle of runs took this to 4 for 55. Enter Dominic Ward for his HCL debut: a quickfire 30 brought to an end by a fine catch from Benjamin (surely determined to make sure Dominic would not be there to bowl to in Ben's next over?) off the very first ball of Ranjit's new spell. Ranjit had signalled his return in style and proceeded with 3 more wickets in his next 2 overs to quickly polish off the even-longer-than-usual Baggy Blues tail. 6 for 101 became 107 all out off just 21.5 overs, with Ranjit finishing with the impressive figures of 5 for 10 off 4.5 overs, with 4 of those wickets being bowled or LBW, further proof of his accurate peformance.

With two strike bowlers out of the country, 107 was always going to be a tough total to defend, but if things had started badly for the Blues, they started worse for Phoenix in their reply: Robin, Yusaf and Aneyas all removing their pads quickly,with the score plummeting to 3 for 8 off the first 6 overs, courtesy of Kaushik and Leckonby's accurate spells. A clever change in the batting order saw Adrian Zador coming in ahead of his skipper, and proceeding to do what Adrian does best. 40 runs from overs 7 and 8 and the comments from the Phoenix bench of 'back on track now then' were precise indeed: 3 for 48 off 8 sure does look a whole lot better than 3 for 8 off 6. It was suddenly do or die for the Blues, with Leckonby and Kaushik brought back immediately to bowl out their overs and try to regain control of the match. 3 more quick wickets brought back hope: 6 for 61 and surely into the weak Phoenix tailenders who could be knocked over by the less front-line bowlers? Well, John Schultz and Ranjit had other ideas: a fine and (almost) chanceless 43-run partnership taking Phoenix to the brink of their first victory before a bemusing run out effected dramatically by John Murphy's direct hit knocking all three stumps awry. Only one very difficult chance was spilled during this assured partnership, more aggressively lead by Ranjit who could do nothing wrong on this day, finishing with 21 not out at a time when the team could easily have fallen away. 7 for 104 left the Blues with a faint sniff of hope and the field was brought up to snatch any slight offering, but a '5 wides' ensured that the inevitable took place, as Phoenix passed the required total with 7.1 overs and 3 wickets to spare.

So it was that congratulations went to Ben and his Phoenix team as they completed their first league win, and the Baggies were left with a week to scrub away any remaining cobwebs before their clash with the league leaders.

Also of important note was the consistent and fair umpiring, the true sportsmanship from both teams, and the positive atmosphere in which the match was played.

Interesting fact: Only 3 of Kaushik's 30 balls were scored from, yet he still conceded 16 runs! 4, 6, 6, and 27 dots can be found in his bowling figures!

Man of the match: Ranjit Kumar