In the opening match, the Army won the toss and elected to bat against the RAF, and following some fine fielding by the RAF were restricted to 135 for six.
Despite starting well, the RAF were hampered by the Army's extremely tight bowling and fielding and soon fell behind the asking rate, ultimately being dismissed for 80 in 17 overs. The Army won by 55 runs.
Following a display of Kwik Cricket from the children of Shrivenham and Portsmouth along with their Service cricket coaches, the Royal Navy joined the fray against the RAF.
The RAF were initially held back but picked up the pace in the second half of their innings to build a competitive score of 141.
The Navy's response was led by the spirited innings of Lieutenant John Batley, resulting in 71 runs, in his final appearance for the Royal Navy.
As is the way of T20, wickets fell, nerves jangled and the RAF fought back to produce the perfect climax with the airmen requiring the wicket of the last man and the sailors and marines needing one run from the final delivery.
On this occasion it was to be the batting side's day as Corporal Jon Grasham (Commando Training Centre Royal Marines Lympstone) top edged the ball for four runs in front of the pavilion, causing the crowd of nearly 3,000 to wildly applaud as the Royal Navy won by one wicket.
With one win apiece, the final game between the Army and the Royal Navy would produce the victors of the tournament.
The Army batted first and, thanks to more exceptionally tight bowling and fielding, were restricted to 116.
In reply, the Royal Navy got into their stride slowly, with the Army showing that they too could excel at tight bowling and fielding; the run rate mounted and the naval batsmen started to succumb to the pressure as wickets began to fall - with five overs to go and the Navy still needing 50 runs, the ship appeared to be sinking!
The one stalwart of the Royal Navy innings however was Engineering Technician (Weapon Engineering) (Submariner) [ET(WE)(SM)] Matthew Thompson (HMS Raleigh) who displayed great technique and enormous maturity and reached 50 off 52 balls.
With vital assistance first from Corporal Cullum Smith (Royal Signals Blandford) and ultimately Corporal Alvin Pollard (Commando Logistic Regiment Royal Marines), the Navy closed on the target, requiring 17 off the last two overs.
In the event it was Corporal Pollard who hit the winning runs with just two balls to spare to snatch victory from a shell-shocked Army team.
The Royal Navy won by four wickets and again the crowd went wild after not one but two phenomenally close and ridiculously exciting games.
The President of the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club), Mr John Barclay, judged ET(WE)(SM) Thompson of the Royal Navy team to be 'Man of the Tournament' for a fine all-round performance in both matches.
Congratulations went to the Royal Navy winners of the Inter Services T20 competition but the real winner was agreed to be Service cricket, which provided a spectacle worthy of the magnificent setting of Lord's, the 'Home of Cricket'.
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