Indies keep pressure on the leaders with convincing win

Unsurprisingly, it came from Matt Stokes.

Independents needed to beat Optimists to keep the pressure on league leaders Griffins and first-innings half-centuries from captain Nathan Le Tissier and fellow opener Zak Damarell had laid the platform for them to achieve that as they set the basement boys a stiff target of 160.

But Optis openers Alex Bushell and skipper Ben Maxton are not a pair prepared to die wondering and both clattered a couple of early boundaries apiece as they got ahead of the required run-rate in the first four overs of powerplay.

Had they hung around for a few more overs, an Indies bowling attack missing main man Will Peatfield might have found themselves under the pump.

Then, though, the batsmen opened a small window of opportunity and Stokes burst through it magnificently.

With Matt Renouf having been brought into the attack for the fifth over, his first delivery was well directed, back of a length at Bushell, who nudged it into the leg side and set off for a quick single.

After just a few paces, the batsman was no doubt regretting his decision as he saw his Guernsey hockey teammate swoop in at full pace from mid-wicket, pick up one-handed and then, on the turn, throw down the stumps at the bowler’s end in one athletic motion.

Bushell did not even look for the umpire’s decision, instead just continued running towards the pavilion.

One quickly became two later in the over when, after crashing one more boundary through extra cover, Maxton was stumped by a sharp piece of work from Damarell.

With that, the game had gone from intriguing to predictable in the space of a couple of minutes.

Third-wicket pair Myles Brook and Carl Pugh did their best to get their side back on track and put on a stand of 61, but for the most part it was largely in ones and twos as Indies kept control of the scoring rate with Jake Roussel particularly economical in the middle overs.

Pugh managed to get hold of Ross Guilbert a couple of times later in his innings, but the left-arm spinner got his man when the batsman miscued a catch to Le Tissier at extra-cover and Brook then holed out to Stokes at deep mid-wicket in the same over.

When James Hudson did much of the damage in taking 19 off the 17th over after Kieran Le Gallez had been brought back into the attack, Optimists very briefly had renewed hope as they reduced the requirement to 33 from the final three overs with six wickets in hand.

Instead, Indies turned the screw as their opposition lost those six wickets for 15 runs.

Le Gallez picked up two of those before the final four all fell in the last over.

Hudson was run out off the first ball before Stokes found himself on a hat-trick as Roussel pouched a catch at long-off to dismiss Max Johnson and then Peter Birch attempted an ambitious ramp shot only to see a stump cartwheeling backwards as he glanced back over his shoulder.

Former Island skipper Mark Clapham came in to face the hat-trick ball and a thick edge took it past the flying Damarell to the boundary.

He edged Stokes’ final ball of the innings too, but this time it was a much thinner nick and Damarell’s task was a simple one.

Earlier, the wicket-keeper batsman had hit a couple of sixes and three fours in his 50 as part of a century opening stand with his captain.

He fell to the leg-spin of Johnson in the 15th over while Le Tissier carried his bat for 66 not out with nine fours and a maximum.

There were also useful cameos from CJ Peatfield and Stokes as Indies set a target that was 22 runs too many for Optis.