After losing the toss and being sent in to bat, Chads lost a wicket early but Saugata Bhattacharya and Jack Ryder dug in.

Batting on a good wicket at Kirkstall Educational Cricket Club, Bhattacharya and Ryder put on 111 for the second wicket, and took the score to 116/2 when Bhattacharya was out for 38 from 80. While his partner played the anchor role, Ryder was able to bat at an impressive strike rate on his way to a fantastic 104 from 123.

After a few tough matches with the bat, this innings highlighted the work Ryder has been putting in at training and paid off for him in a crucial match.

At the fall of Ryder’s wicket, the score was 167/6 and Chads were at the risk of falling short of a par score on a decent wicket. However, some expansive hitting from the lower order from Rishabh Tiwari (32 from 14) and Praveen Thotagamuwa (25 not out from 17) saw Chads finish on a very competitive total of 239/9 from 45 overs.

With the bat, Kirkstall Educational started well and reached 72 before losing their first wicket. However, from there onwards it was a challenge. Four quick wickets for just four runs saw them collapse to 76/4.

Oscar Havis was the key standout with the ball for Chads, taking 4/36 from his 11 overs while Thotagamuwa (2/43 off 13 overs) and Adam Livingston (2/44 off 6.2 overs) took two wickets each.

There were some nervy moments as one of the middle-order batters from Kirkstall reached a half-century and looked like the key wicket. Despite that, the pressure was always on the home side as the required run rate was nearly two-a-ball and with the match in the second last over, Livingston ran out the last batter as Chads secured an important 26-run victory.