Warriors hold their nerve to chase down Royals

South Shore Royals CC won the toss at Parc Sorbonne and batted first, and for a while it looked like they had picked well. Saurabh Bedi and Ranjeet Singh put on 78 for the second wicket, Bedi playing the more eye catching hand with 44 off 42 balls including four fours before he was bowled by Subodh Mahajan. Ranjeet Singh kept going but had to retire hurt on 26, having faced 45 balls across 81 minutes at the crease. From there the innings never really got moving again: S Patil made a brisk 24 off 24 with two fours and a six, and Edukondalu Muchumuri finished 12 not out, but nothing else got going and the last four wickets fell for 46. Amit Malhotra did the damage with the ball, finishing with 4 for 33 off his four overs, picking up Patil, Sakthikumar for a first-ball duck, Ankit Sachan and Vinothagan Kannathasan. Royals closed on 142 for 7 from their 25 overs.

Chasing 143, Brossard's top order gave the total room to breathe without ever cutting loose. Charanpreet Singh top scored early with 22 off 30 before he was bowled by Bedi, and Amit Kumar added a quick 23 off 18 balls before falling to Ankit Sachan. It was Rohit Sharma who took the game away from the bowlers, hitting three sixes on his way to 38 off 32 balls, including a fifth wicket stand of 42 with Maninder Singh in just 26 balls. Haroon Syed's innings lasted one ball and ended without scoring, a reminder that not every entry in the book gets a story.

After Rohit fell, the required rate crept up and the wickets kept coming: Maninder Singh, Subodh Mahajan and Harry Sukhdeo all chipped in without staying long, and at one stage three wickets went down for not many. In the end Subodh Mahajan, unbeaten on 5, and Tarun Reddy, unbeaten on 2, saw the Warriors home with three wickets and 22 balls to spare, sealing it at 143 for 7 in 21.2 overs. Amit Malhotra was named man of the match for his four wicket haul, with Amit Kumar also chipping in with the ball as well as the bat.