Army cricketers prepare for Lord's with dramatic draw
The British Army's preparations for the Inter Services T20 cricket championships at Lord's Cricket Ground have ended in a draw with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
The fixture in Aldershot was the Army's final warm-up match for crunch clashes with the RAF and Navy – which will be broadcast live on the Forces News YouTube channel.
In a game with lots of runs, both teams ended up with a score of 162 meaning the match was tied.
The MCC were in to bat first and it was Australian pair, Will Bosisto and Patrick Rowe, who struck up a successful partnership.
Bosisto (43 runs) was eventually caught by Varun Bali from Jay Boynton's delivery but it was Rowe who stole the show with an impressive 67 runs from just 34 balls.
By the time he was run out by Keddy Lesporis, the MCC had run up a daunting score of 121-4.
They'd add to that score too with Jamie Southgate's 25 runs helping them to their 162-run final score.
Boynton and Nicholas Schofield were the pick of the Army bowlers as both men picked up two wickets – but what about their batsmen?
Bali seems to be a player that the Army can rely on at Lord's as he opened the innings and put in an incredible performance.
He scored 71 runs off 46 balls to become top scorer of the match and the Army had a score of 126-4 when Bali was caught by Southgate from Bosisto's bowling.
Bali's score, coupled with a good haul from Liam Fletcher (34 runs) and Denson Narayan (27 runs), had the Army looking at potential victory.
However, a late collapse down the batting order failed to get them over the line.
Boynton and Ross Dearden posted single-figure scores before the end of the 20 overs came and there was no match-winning heroics on the final ball.
An impressive, but rare, draw to end the Army's pre-season will give them confidence as they look to retain their Inter Services trophy at Lord's.
Meanwhile, the RAF and the Navy will play the first match of the tournament at Burnaby Road in Portsmouth on 5 May.
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