Bharat's four wickets and 16 with the bat sink Brossard B

The Fight that almost was.

On paper, 90 runs was never going to be enough. BWCC Team B knew it. They probably needed another 20 runs, maybe even more, to give themselves a truly defendable total. But what the scorecard didn't capture was the fight that went into those 90 runs.

For the first ten overs, the Warriors were simply unable to get going, managing only 34 runs and losing 4 wickets. Mohit and Akhilesh started the bowling attack, stifling the BWCC batters and taking the crucial wickets of Sukhjit Singh and Amit Kumar . Mohit Turki finished his four overs conceding just 15 runs, while Akhilesh gave away only 16 and ended the game with 2 wickets. Between them, they strangled the Warrior's batting, making every run feel like hard work. Amit Malhotra and Mohit Gandhi were the next two victims and the 11th over saw Harry Sukhdeo out on a respectable 17 runs (in a low scoring match).

This is when Raja Sukhdeo dragged the innings toward something defendable, adding 13 with Maninder Singh and then 22 more with Subodh Mahajan, before he was out himself two balls from the end, top score on 22 off 27.

Raja showed glimplses of the batsman everyone remembers, composed, patient and capable of finding a way through the gaps and putting runs on the board when the team needed them. While his 22 wasn't a huge number, but in an innings where runs were almost impossible to come by, it was precious. The warriors scraped and fought their way to 90 for 9. It wasn't a big total, but it was something to defend. On the other end, Mohit and Akhilesh weren't the only ones to shine as Bharat did the damage with the ball, 4 for 17 off his four overs while Ranjit Singh held on to three catches in the field.

BCA Yellow began their chase, but the Warrior's bowlers refused to let them run away with it. Amit Kumar hit back with 3 for 17, ripping through their top order and Subodh Mahajn added another wicket while the rest of the attack kept the pressure on.

The chase began to wobble. 17th over started with Samba taking the ball. Second ball of the over to Ranjit Singh, a lofted shot towards Deep mid-wicket, and as everybody watched with held breath, Manny held on to the ball, a brilliant catch and the hero of the previous game gone for 6. Anything was possible, this is cricket afterall. And at the end of the 17th over, BCA found themself with 78 runs on the board and 6 wickets down.

Captain Sukhjit Singh handed the ball to Raja who had given 20 runs in 3 overs for 1 wicket so far. It was a gamble. And unfortunately for the warriors, it didn't quite pay off. Thirteen runs came from that over and the possibility of a dramatic finish faded away. Akhilesh hit a six off the second ball of the over and then came the final blow. Sumit Singh went deep in his crease adn punched one through to deep cover for four. And just like that, it was over.

BCA Yellow reached 91 for 6 in 17.5 overs, winning by four wickets with 2.1 overs to spare. A scorecard that might suggest a comfortable cahse, but anyone who watched it knew better. BWCC never surrendered, they fought for every run, they fought for every wicket and they made BCA earn every single one of those 91 runs.