The last cricket game of the year was played at the oval on Saturday as winless Marsa took on the unbeaten Krishna team in a Winter League match.

Javed Shah and Malcolm Crabbe opened the batting for Marsa.

Shah, with his normal flamboyant style, made 21 runs before being caught and Crabbe went on to make 24 runs in a marathon innings.

Tony Azzopardi then added 13 runs as Marsa ran into trouble after losing their top order for 66 runs.

Sam Aquilina took the challenge to the bowlers and made 26 runs from 16 balls.

He was supported by Mike Caruana who made 10. This gave Marsa some hope with their highest total thus far in the league – 110.

For Krishna, Bikram Arora was the main wicket-taker with two. Behind the stumps, John Grima had a good day, taking two catches and a stumping.

The Krishna innings began with a blast, Nowell Khosla and Arora both scoring freely and going out on 31 runs. Khosla hit three 4s and one of them would compete for the shot of the day.

An over-pitched ball from Caruana was straight driven along the ground, a pleasure to watch (not for the bowler). Arora hit four 4s and a 6.

Sarfraz Ali, who had taken the wicket of Khosla, took two othe wickets and brought the Marsa team back into the game but Glen Tavilla (22) and John Grima (nine) then steadied Krishna towards victory.

And, in the end, it was Tony Slater with a superb flick shot for four that won the game for league leaders Krishna who earned seven points.

Not even the inclusion of Ewan Prezens, who played for Sweden against Malta in the recent European Championships, could save Marsa from defeat.

Prezens bowled well but his team could only return home with a single point from this match.