WHILE England’s cricketers triumphed against India, soldiers from the region were narrowly beaten by a team from the Afghan National Army.

Troops from the 4th Mechanized Brigade, based at Catterick Garrison, lost by ten runs in a match played in Afghanistan at the weekend.

The game - which took place on the helicopter landing site of the Afghan Army’s Camp Shorabak, in Helmand Province - saw the home side set a score of 216-5 which the North Yorkshire-based soldiers were unable to catch, finishing on 206-6.

The tight match was interrupted not by rain, but by a helicopter needing to land.

Team captain for the Afghan side, Captain Yousef, of 3rd Kandak, 215 Brigade, said after the game: “The British played well and were a credit to their nation."

Major Adrian Grinnoneau, from The Black Rats, was named man of the match after notching up 82 runs.

More commonly seen playing for Saffron Walden Cricket Club in Essex, he said: “The match was closer than many people thought it would be, particularly when you realise that none of us have picked up a cricket bat for three months.”

The Afghan National Army now progress to the semi-finals of the Twenty 20 tournament to be held at the Lashkar Gah Stadium, where they will face the Afghan National Police.