[attach id=237040 size="medium"]Justin Brooke batting for Melita in the Winter League.[/attach]

Krishna CC were all out to clinch the Winter League Shield last weekend by beating Melita and dashing the latter team’s hopes for the title.

However, Melita had other ideas. They won the match in convincing fashion and the eight points they got from their victory ensured that they stay in contention until the end.

Now, Krishna will have to beat Marsa in their next match on Saturday to claim the Winter League honours.

Krishna batted first with Bikram Arora and Andy Lenard opening the innings.

Lenard was first to go, being caught by Simon Lavendar for three runs. Tony Slater did not add to the score but defied the bowlers for ten balls before being dismissed.

Matthew Gillard added three runs before he too was bowled but John Rusher did not look like being forced out by any of the Melita bowling.

However, after 35 balls he opted for an adventurous run and was superbly run out by Sam Aquilina following a direct hit from mid-off.

Rusher made six runs and Arora went on to retire after 40 balls. He returned to end up being the highest scorer for his team with 42 runs.

Nowell Khosla added 23 from 29 balls, Mike Caruana 12, Sid Anand one and Kevin Krishna three. Aided by extras, Krishna were bowled out on the last ball of the innings for 117 runs.

Andy Naudi and Robert Krishna took two wickets each, while Eric Krishna and Justin Farrin Thorne took one each.

The Melita reply started off on shaky grounds with Lavendar and Robert Krishna both making four runs each and Farrin Thorne adding a run-a-ball 13.

This brought together Aquilina and Justin Brooke and both played an excellent innings.

They did not risk any fancy shots and took plenty of singles. Brooke retired after 40 balls, making 31 runs with three fours and a six in his scoresheet.

Aquilina made a run-a-ball 31 which included five boundaries, three of which were off consecutive balls.

Chris Naudi was relieved to score a four off the first ball he faced only to be bowled in the second one. Matt McKeogh was six runs not out when the winning runs were made by Melita. There were 17 extras.

For Krishna, Slater took two wickets, Kevin Krishna and Anand taking a wicket each.