Bowling: Emmett Posener (2/8), Evander Jose (1/6)

Batting: Noah Doyle 38*, Yash Reddy Karnati 27

Players of the match: Yash, Emmett and Noah

First game back after the summer holidays and it was an absolute scorcher, with Marist Navy hosting Radford in Hughes for what proved to be a tense but rewarding outing.

Navy won the toss and elected to field, making an immediate impact with the ball. The early pressure paid off as Radford found themselves on the ropes at 3/19, thanks to some disciplined bowling. Radford were able to steady the ship through the middle overs, but in the oppressive heat runs were hard to come by. The fourth wicket didn’t fall until the 22nd over, before wickets five and six followed in quick succession, a standout being a screamer of a run-out from Cholan. Radford finished strongly at the death to post a respectable 114 from their 30 overs.

The chase began with nerves jangling as Radford struck twice in the opening over to raise tensions early. Fill-in Yash, alongside Lachie, showed great composure to calm the air, putting on a vital partnership of nearly 30. Noah then began to put real pressure on the run rate before an injury forced him to take a brief spell off the field. Credit to his teammates, who held things steady in his absence and kept the chase on track. Noah returned to finish the job in the 18th over, securing the run chase and a well-earned victory for Navy.

A pleasing result in tough conditions, and one that makes Marist Navy’s hopes of pushing on to the semi-finals all the more real.