We lost the toss and Riviera decided to bat. Gregory (6-1-18-1) had trouble with his run up but took the first wicket when opener Ifran (7) presented gully with a simple catch. Kochieyan (5-1-9-1), the new kid on the block, read Afghani refugee, shared the opening slot and looks quite useful claiming the wicket of Roomi (7) leg before wicket. Murphy (7-1-22-2) and Edwards (4-0-19-1) are a very handy pair to rely on when there is a need to keep the run rate in check. Murphy had two wickets caught at the wicket by Shalana Karunarathnage who took the gloves in professional style throughout the Riviera innings. Edwards claimed the most valuable wicket of Pranav (22), the number 3 batsman, who was in fine form, particularly off the front foot. The ball moved in the air so much that Pranav got a thin outside edge onto his stumps. Two smart runs outs when batsmen tried to sneak a single to our ever ready cover points, leaving the opposition, who were one short of the requisite number, with two wickets remaining. Enter Livera (1-1-0-2). rather impressive figures, both catches, the first to Kochieyan at first slip, the second to Edwards at mid on. Riviera had scored a rather meagre 77 runs in 25 overs.
Murphy (6) and Edwards (60 n.o.) donned their pads and if you look back at what you have just read you will realise what happened. In the tenth over Murphy returned to the pavilion having been bowled trying to take his frustration out to a straight delivery, complaining that he was no more than a voyeur. The total at that time was 66 and Edwards had made 55 of them, so Murphy’s assessment of the situation was sound. Unnikrishnan (0) smote a ball high into the sky but it did not quite have the power to clear the rope and so was well caught. And so it was left to Holmes (4 n.o) to join Edwards in a cameo role although he did, in rather a rash moment, strike the ball to within inches of the furthest boundary which necessitated running three times between the stumps. I dare say that Holmes was rather quicker in the 22 yard dash when he last played cricket some forty years ago, but he made it. With aplomb Edwards struck another ball over the mid wicket boundary to secure the eight wicket victory in the fourteenth over.