With showers looming Brookweald won the toss on damp wicket and decided to bowl first. Traffic delays meant Brookweald took the field with 8 players for the first few overs and crucially Anand Santana bowling from the top end found the outside edge of Kankavala in the first over only to see the ball carry to where first slip would have been.

Despite this Malcolm Swettenham found some lift and removed the other opener before Anand Santana got some reward with another early wicket and finished with figures of 10 overs 2-27. John-Paul Heppell took another quick wicket and it looked like the decision to bowl first was paying off.

But Hatfield Peverel fought back when Kankavala was joined by Norton in the 22nd over with the score on 76-3. With the pitch drying out, both batsmen took full advantage of anything bowled short of a length by hitting numerous 4’s and 6’s on their way to a match winning partnership of 133 in 17 overs. Norton was eventually bowled by Shoaib Khan for 71 and Kankavala, who rode his luck on occasions, almost carried his bat for a well-made 127 to set Brookweald a target of 252 for victory.

Hatfield Peverel bowled tightly at the start of the Brookweald innings with the centurion Kankavala and Bentley conceding just two scoring shorts in the first six overs including the early wicket of James Miller. Nick Watson fell to a good diving catch at cover for 15 before Shoaib Khan (37) and Asif Zeeshan (55) counter-attacked with some aggressive hitting to get Brookweald back into the match. At the half way stage Brookweald still needed to score at 7 runs per over and Malcolm Swettenham hit a brisk 46 to keep the momentum going.

Umair Zeeshan (22*) and John-Paul Heppell (20) batting at 8 and 9 took the Brookweald total past 200 but with overs running out the target proved too much as Hatfield Peverel’s spinner Clark finished with 3-45 from his 12 overs. Hatfield were worthy winners and had Kankavala to thank for his all-round contribution with bat and ball.