Green Kings won by 7 wickets

A fantastic bowling display and a controlled run chase gave the Green Kings a rapid victory over the visiting Kangaroos, ensuring their first points of the season, with a bonus point to boot. Both teams wanted to bat but Viktor Agoston won the toss, so the all-Hungarian team was the one to pad up and trot out to the middle.

Within two balls one Kangaroo was sitting down again. After being hit by a rising ball, Gabor Nadudvari was clean bowled through the gate by Andy Grieve, bringing Gabor Torok to the crease. He and Janos Matyasfalvi played a waiting game to slowly take the score along to 30 in the tenth over, when a wonderful direct hit from Claudia Balogh ended Matyasfalvi's stay after a calling mix-up. Captain Agoston was bowled round his legs for a duck and then Tamas Torok was caught in the deep by Zoltan Mago off Abdul Khan to really knock the wind out of the innings. Gabor fell to a spectacular one-handed overhead catch by Grieve for 18, then the tail was cleaned up by the girls - Brigi Hotea took three wickets and Claudia Balogh one. Only Zoltan Popradi offered any resistance, smashing two boundaries in a rapid 14 before falling to the spin of Grieve.

The Kangaroos managed a spirited cheer as they began their difficult task of defending just 73 and two wickets in the second over gave them hope. Rinko was out lbw and three balls later Mago (fresh from hitting 69 in Slovenia the previous Sunday) was caught at mid-off without scoring. However, two dropped catches didn't help the cause and Aneel played a classy innings in partnerships of 34 with Khan and 33 with Attila Vakan to speedily bring about victory in just the 12th over. His 39 runs gained him the man-of-the-match award, but Vakan's steady display in hitting 10 not out following his unbeaten knock of 24 on Saturday and 30 in Slovenia shows that his work in the nets is paying off. Gabor's frustration was evident for all to see, although he does have the consolation of yet another three-wicket haul.

So, the Green Kings move up to third in the league with three games to go, but the Kangaroos have just one match left to get into a semi-final position. They face last season's runners-up Baggy Blues 1st XI in a do-or-die crunch match and they must surely hope that their big hitters come back to form for that.

Man of the Match: Aneel