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hallengers defeated Fez Rebels by one wicket by virtue of a better net-run-rate in their TATA Motors JCA League game on Sunday that saw stoppages due to rain and fortunes fluctuating right through, eventually culminating in a nail-biting finish.

In the Division 2 encounter at Cibubur, having been put in to bat first on a bright and sunny morning by Challengers, Fez Rebels got off to a cautious but steady start reaching 90/3 at one stage.

The introduction of Manica Vasagan into the attack and his spell of 3/32 saw the Rebels collapse to 113/9 at the second drinks break at 24 overs.

A fighting last wicket partnership then propelled the Rebels to 148 runs before being all out in 33 overs. Santhosh Kumar supported well with the ball taking 2/26. For the Rebels, Cameron Knox scored 28 runs while Mick Dumenil scored 25 runs.

While a target of 149 runs was always going to be a tough ask to defend, the Rebels were in no mood to let go without a fight. Led by opening left-arm strike bowler Stephen Barber who knocked the top order with a fine spell of bowling that saw him take 4/16, the Rebels had Challengers on the mat at 40/6 when rain intervened.

A stoppage of play meant that Challengers got the time they needed to regroup. Resuming after the break, the Challengers batsmen batted sensibly taking the score to 110/8, led by Vasagan, this time with the bat, scoring a crucial 32 runs and Sunil Samtani who scored 26 runs. With still 39 runs adrift of the target, and the game sitting on a knife edge, a wet outfield and a slippery ball, meant that the Rebels could not capitalize on the chances that came their way to wrap the game up.

This allowed Challengers to keep their nose ahead of the net-run-rate, when rain intervened for the second time at 30.2 overs. With no further play possible at this stage, Challengers, who were 142/9, were declared winners by one wicket, as per the rules of play of the JCA League.

With this win, Challengers move to second spot in the Division 2 points table behind leader Jaguar.

Meanwhile, at Purwakarta, in a game that saw an undefeated Jaguar take on Indorama, the weather played spoilsport again, as the game was called off during the second innings.

Taking first strike, Jaguar'€™s batting was led by its in-form number three batsman Dhimanshu Raghuwanshi who scored a blitzkrieg maiden century, scoring 161 runs off just 107 balls.

His innings, which was laced with 12 boundaries and 10 sixes, helped Jaguar post a healthy 230/7 in 35 overs. Srikanth and Ashish Khaitan did well with the ball taking 2/33 and 2/42 respectively.

In response, with Indorama at 37/1 in eight overs, rain intervened with no further possibility of play. As per the rules of play, which need a minimum of 15 overs of play to be completed to declare a winner, the game had to be '€œabandoned'€ and points split equally.

Elsewhere at GMIS grounds, TKCC beat host GMIS by two wickets. GMIS scored 225/8 in 35 overs. Young all-rounder Karan Tiwari (62 runs) and Pratyush Chaturvedi (55 runs) did well with the bat.

Maneesh Tripathi (2/34) and Mukesh Khetan (2/38) bowled well for TKCC. In response, TKCC reached the target losing eight wickets in the 32nd over. Rakesh remained unbeaten on 50 runs while Hitesh Malhotra and Malik Thariani scored 45 runs and 43 runs respectively.

Earlier on Saturday at Cibubur, the Jakarta Barbarians beat Emerio by seven wickets. Emerio was all out for 140 runs. Manikandan scored 32 runs while Ben Burgess took 5/39. The Barbarians reached the target in the 23rd over. Jon Baker scored 55 runs supported by Ben Burgess who remained unbeaten on 39 runs.