Their opponent this time was Defenders of Peace (playing their 2nd match) at the glorious Cheam CC venue. The toss was won by the Defenders who had no hesitation in wanting to bat first on a warm evening in South London.

Immediately, the decision to bat first was rewarded with an emphatic start of 18 runs for no loss of wickets in the first over, with veteran openers Yasir Ahmed and Mirza Khalique getting an early sighter on a track promising to be a belter. Posed with serious questions early on and a need to restore control and order , Waseem Ahmed turned to his go to man in Fareed Ahmed who has been in red hot wicket taking form. Fareed once again didn’t disappoint by taking the wicket of Khalique straight away, pegging the defenders back slightly, and then followed up with the wickets of Yasir and Mansoor. The top 3 of the Defenders had fallen prey to the left arm spin of Fareed with the score now at 3-45 in the 6th over of the powerplay.

Nasir Ahmed and Atta ul Faheem looked to make the most of the decent start provided to them with the run rate still going healthy for the Defenders. A 52-run partnership in 30 balls between the two once again threatened to take the game away for the Knights. Desperate for a breakthrough, Waseem had the luxury to call upon the skilful bowling of Hameed Malik, who possesses all the tricks and variations ideal for T20 bowling. Clearly, the Defenders had no real plan of action against Hameed, who provided the breakthrough at 4-92 in the 10th over with the wicket of Atta ul Faheem (25 off 16), and straight away following it up with the wicket of Tahir Mahmood and leaving the Defenders in a spot of bother at 91-5 in the 11th over of the Innings.

Whilst the run rate was great for the Defenders, the issue know was the possibility of them being bowled out with not much batting to come and plenty of overs to bat out. Nasir Ahmed had to slightly alter his attacking method of play to somehow fend off this threat, but eventually he too fell to the mastery of Hameed’s bowling having made a brilliant 47 off 30 and the score now at 6-114 in the 13th over. A crucial wicket to fall at such a delicate juncture of the game, Hameed’s spell of 3-23 pretty much ended the Defender’s ambitions to pose a 180+ score on a good batting wicket. With the lower order not adding much to the total, the Defenders were bowled out by the 18th over with the score at an underwhelming 139 all out. What could have been a good total was now going to require some seriously good bowling to defend, as the Defenders would have felt that they fell quite short of where they could have been having been 91-3 in 10 overs.

In response to this total, Hafiz Zafarullah was once again in the wars this time with a new partner alongside him in the form of Asad Usman. Both openers ensured that the powerplay is best made use of as the Knights got off to another blistering start of 37 runs in 3 overs. Usman’s short but impactful innings (20 off 10 with 5 boundaries) came to an end as Yasir provided a much needed breakthrough for the Defenders. Yasir was then successful in removing the in form and dangerous Hafiz sab who this time headed back to the pavilion, having made a strong 26 off 13 balls at a strike rate of 200! The Defenders had a brief sighter at replicating the first innings bowling blue print set by the Knights with the 3rd wicket falling in the powerplay with the score at 52-3 in the 5th over. However, with the fast start provided by the openers and with the total not being too chall, Captain Waseem Ahmed knew that equation was a lot more simple with a run a ball required and no real need to take unnecessary risks.

Waseem who is now making a habit of taking responsibility for his side in chases was accompanied by his in form middle order batsman Safeer Ahmed and both played the game and the field accordingly with a good partnership of 54 runs in 58 balls, taking the chase deep enough for the lower order to finish the job. Safeer fell for a hard fought 24 off 39 with the score at 106-4 in 14 overs. Imran Qaiser has only been dealing in sixes these days, and two more thumping sixes by him brought the score closer to the total in quick time. Eventually, Waseem saw his side to the finish line remaining unbeaten once again at Cheam with a responsible knock of 37* (35 balls).

The Knights needed a victory, and they achieved this successfully with Waseem being awarded the MOTM. The Defenders would be rueing their batting efforts, having been in a good position at 91-3 and not making enough to pose a strong total to defend.

Scorecard summary is as follows;

Man of the Match;