Sunshine finally made an appearance as the first team warmed up on the excellent outfield at Royals Brussels CC, whilst skipper Will Heath won the toss. The plan was set to bowl first and let the swinging deliveries of Suhail Sadiq and Moxit Dixit unsettle their top order and rarely can a plan have worked so well. Within 4 overs, RBCC were 8 for 3 wickets and importantly Brighton Watambwa had been sent packing by an outstanding catch by Saransh Kulshretha. Catches were to become a theme as tight bowling led to aerial shots and the opposition regularly ensured that more opportunities would follow. In fact nine of them followed, all taken without a single dropped chance making the coach smile for once. RBCC ended on 102 all out with Mohit ending with another 3 wickets for 24, Suhail an excellent 3 for 14 and Vikram Vijh and Saransh Kulshretha getting 2 each. At this point, it was easy to be complacent but RBCC have an excellent bowling attack and there was much work still to do.
When the reply started, it was tough to score and determination and patience were needed. Thankfully, James Barker has this in abundance and he held one end up when others could not. Several batsmen failed to get to double figures and then when Rakesh Sharma and Girish Venkateswaran were removed without scoring, the nervousness level was sharply raised. At 73 for 6 after 29 overs, the tension was evident. However, the 1st team bats deep and it was the Vikram Vijh (23 not out) that was on hand to help James steer the team home to a 4 wicket win. James Barker batted all the 37 overs for a crucial 38 not out. This win means we remain unbeaten in Division 2 and well-placed to challenge for the title once again.