A spell of seven wickets for 29 runs from the Brown Cap seamers removed the Phoenix's middle order and led to a comfortable win at Scarborough.

The Brown Caps made the long trip north to Scarborough and may have spent a long afternoon in the field as Darren Gough won the toss an elected to bat on a warm sunny day. However, in just the third over of the innings Matthew Nicholson took the first wicket when Jacques Rudolph whipped a ball straight to Scott Newman at short fine-leg. That set the tone for the day as the luck went the way of the Brown Caps throughout the game. Gerard Brophy came to the crease and tried to move the score along and did so hitting Mohammad Akram for four boundaries in 2 overs. The score was on 29 when Nicholson picked up the second wicket, Craig White, caught behind by a leaping Jonathan Batty for 11. That was the start of the Phoenix collapse as seven wickets fell for just 29 runs as the Brown Caps seamers found uneven bounce from the Scarborough pitch. Brophy was next to be dismissed, caught at mid-off, when driving against Chris Jordan.

Mohammad Akram switched to the pavillion end and immediately removed Anthony McGrath LBW for 10. Jordan then removed the danger man Inzamam-ul-Haq for 9, again LBW. In the next over Akram claimed the wicket of Tim Bresnan, bowled for naught. Akram had to wait just one over to claim his third wicket when he trapped Richard Pyrah in front of middle for 1, before Jordan bowled Andrew Gale for 5 in the following over to leave the Phoenix on 58 for 8.

The Brown Caps did not have it all their way as Phoenix captain Darren Gough came to the crease and began to play his shots. He took a liking to Chris Schofield and swept the leg-spinner for two sixes. Mark Butcher was in search of the last two wickets and constantly moved his bowlers around to try and finish off the Phoenix innings. Gough was driven on by a vocal crowd and found a very able partner in David Wainwright, together the two put on 72 for the ninth wicket to frustrate the Brown Caps. However, Wainwright tried to clear the short legside boundary off Harbhajan Singh and only managed to find Jordan as he went for 26, the Phoenix on 130 for 9. Gough added ten more to the total with Matthew Hoggard before Stewart Walters bowled the number eleven when trying to cut. The Brown Caps bowling the Phoenix out for 145.

The Brown Caps made the best start possible as Scott Newman and James Benning made the most of some wayward bowling. They were both striking the ball well and when the ball beat the infield there was no chance for the fielders on the lightning quick outfield. The openers had soon silenced the crowd as they reached 37 from the first four overs, Benning in particular capitalising form some short bowling from Hoggard. Gough bowled two overs form the pavilion end before leaving the field and he never came back on leaving the Phoenix without their talisman. Bresnan replaced Gough and then made the breakthrough when he had Benning adjudged LBW when playing a pull shot, out for 37 the score on 60.

The Brown Caps then had a small collapse as the Phoenix turned to the slower bowlers. Wainwright’s slow left arm was causing some problems as he found uneven bounce and as the runs started to dry up Newman went the aerial route and only managed to find Bresnan on the mid-wicket boundary. Newman out for 30. At the other end Pyrah was keeping things tight with some accurate medium pace and dismissed Walters, LBW for 9. Ali Brown was next to go for just 10, bowled by Wainwright, when trying to cut a ball that did not turn, the Brown Caps 94 for 4. That meant Butcher and Batty played watchfully to rebuild the innings and they manoeuvred the ball around and took their time to pick up singles. Wainwright had bowled well and finished with 2 for 30 from his 8 overs, Butcher ruining his figures in his last over by sweeping a large six into the now silenced crowd as the Brown Caps only needed 13 more. The experienced pair had put on 47 for the fifth wicket and there were only three runs needed when Butcher went. He tried to finish the game with in style coming down the track to McGrath, only to miss the ball and was stumped by Brophy. Batty hit the winning runs off Rudolph in the next over as the Brown Caps won by 5 wickets with more than 10 overs to spare and move up the table after two wins in a row.

Click here to watch match highlights of the Brown Caps win on Surrey TV

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