Cricket

Royal Navy beat defending champions RAF to stake a claim for Inter Services T20 trophy at Lord's

Watch: The Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force clash in the first IST20 match in Arundel

The Royal Navy men's cricketers have put themselves in a strong position for the Inter Services Championship title with a 15-run victory over defending champions, the Royal Air Force, in the first game in Arundel.

Winning the toss on a chilly April morning, Royal Navy skipper Fin Marks opted to bat and a circumspect start was justified, given the tight lines bowled by RAF opener Jon Hawk.

The wily off-spin of Tom Shorthouse helped to see the back of Navy opener Sam Hewitt in the eighth over, with the score on 45-1.

2026 UK Armed Forces T20 cricket – see every wicket live from Lord's

His opening partner, former skipper Ben Johnston, steadied the ship, before going through the gears showing an impressive array of strokes all around the ground to score 83 from 47 balls, before being dismissed by pacer Touseef Ahmad, and the catch taken by Tom Shorthouse.

Ably assisted by Noah McLennan's 35 runs, the Navy put on 152 for four in their 20 overs.

In reply, UKAF star batter Tom Shorthouse was dismissed for a rare duck and the Navy put pressure on the light blues in Ben White's opening over.

The ever-dependable RAF skipper Adam Fisher scored 47 runs, putting on a 72-run partnership with middle-order batter Rogoff.

Fisher became the first player to 500 IST20 runs in the process, but his dismissal ended many RAF hopes of a successful chase, and the momentum stalled, finishing on 137-9.

Next up for both sides is a showdown with the Army at Lord's on Thursday, where a win would see the Navy lift the trophy.

Watch: Marine Finlay Marks speaks to BFBS Sport following the Navy's win over the RAF in Arundel

Royal Navy captain Finlay Marks told BFBS: "Really happy for us and the boys. A bit nervous coming into it, RAF obviously defending champions last year, and it felt like we haven't got Shorty [Tom Shorthouse] out in years, so to get him quite early on in the chase was a good feeling.

"Boys are excited to play at Lord's, think we've got three or four lads who haven't played at Lord's so obviously they'll be excited, a bit nervous which will be good, I think, excited to watch the Army and the RAF go at it and hopefully we can beat the Army and lift the title."

You can watch all the action from Lord's on Thursday 23 April with BFBS Sport.

Each match from the day's event will be shown live on the BFBS Forces News YouTube channel and on BFBS TV (for serving personnel overseas only) with catch-up available on both platforms.