With the eyes of all teams aspiring to qualify to the next round on this match, the Conquerors won the toss and elected to bat first.

A reasonably good start at 20-0 in 3 overs, the Defenders began clawing their way into the MC line up with the important wicket of Bilal in the 4th over, as Bilal has been in good touch for the Conquerors in their recent outings. Nabil and Munaf looked to push forward but were halted post powerplay with Nabil heading back into the dug out having scored 20 runs. Whilst Munaf (25 off 25) wanted to drop anchor for his side, wickets kept falling on a regular basis as the top 7 of the Conquerors had all returned to the Pavilion by the 12th over with the score at 7-80. Without a doubt, the Defenders spin attack of Haseeb and Yasir were all over the Conquerors like a rash as both bowlers took 6 wickets between them, and Yasir Ahmed stood out with excellent figures of 4-19. Mohsaf Gondal who was back in the team was also removed early, as the Defenders saved themselves from a potential late innings onslaught considering the form Mohsaf has been in. Naghman with the company of Anas were careful, and provided a crucial 43 run partnership off 30 balls for the 9th wicket pushing the score to 128-8 (having been 83-7).

Besides the tumbling of wickets, the strike rates of all batsmen were a worry too as none of them comfortably played at a strike rate above hundred, which most likely indicated that the match wasn’t being played on a typical Cheam wicket. However, a wicket can only be judged once both teams have batted on it, and the Defenders had done well in the first half to restrict the Conquerors to a total that they would most definitely feel comfortable chasing at 6 an over.

The start to the innings wasn’t ideal for the Defenders, both Mansoor and Tahir fell early as Mohsaf and Anas were in the wickets column. Yasir who had caused most of the damage with the ball was now inflicting more torment on the Conquerors with the Bat. Whilst captain Muzamil held one end, Yasir was punishing the MC bowlers with a quick fire 33 off 24 with 7 fours in his innings. The Conquerors were more than relieved to see the back of him as Atta ul Faheem joined his captain at the crease on 45-3 on the brink of the 10th over.

Needing a further 84 runs in their last 10 overs, the approach by the Defenders was to be watchful searching for a run a ball, however the dots in between most certainly would raise the pressure on the batsmen and resulting in their wickets now, as Atta and Daniyal Latif could not stand with their captain to see this total off. Muzamil decided to shift gears now and was putting the Conquerors bowlers to the sword! A thumping 14 run over in the 18th meant that the Defenders needed 11 runs in 12 balls, With Muzamil scoring a fantastic 56 off 42 (133 strike rate).

It seemed as if the Conquerors were once again going to be punished by the Dogar brothers (having been unable to stop Mudassar recently), but it was now or never to make amends. Supposedly a cakewalk with 6 wickets in hand, the Defenders simply needed to knock it around and get the 2 points on their points tally. That was the plan they followed until a series of run outs one after the other resulted in 7 to win off the final over. Captain Faizan was to bowl it, and more run outs followed as the Defenders could only fall 3 runs short of the total! The most bizarre, dramatic end to a match with the Conquerors now winning their 4th match from the cusp of defeat every single time!

The Conquerors who would have been in big trouble had they lost today became the first side to qualify for the play offs in this year’s KCL with the 2 points. The Defenders captain Muzamil Dogar won the plaudits as the MOTM, although the efforts of Yasir Ahmed with bat and ball must also be highly appreciated. The Defenders would also need to win their last two matches now and potentially depend on results to go in their favour elsewhere if they wish to qualify for the play offs!

Scorecard summary is as follows;

Man of the match;