LITTLE Harwood caused the shock of the season when they beat treble chasing Brookhouse to lift the Sports Council Cup.

Brookhouse were firm favourites going in to the final having already won the league and seven-a-side competition.

And this after they completed the treble last season.

But cups can always throw up an upset and Brookhouse found Little Harwood in determined mood -- with Suleman Desai in man-of-the-match form.

Desai smashed a magnificent seven sixes in a match-winning knock of 69 to guide Little Harwood to a commanding total of 183-9.

And that was after Lukman was dismissed in the first over thanks to a magnificent diving catch from Imran Patel off Sabir Patel's sixth delivery.

However it proved to be a minor set back as Little Harwood's batsman stood firm against Brookhouse's lethal bowling attack.

Opener Younis Patel hit a handy 31 before falling to Siraj Master then Suleman and Mustaq put together a vital 67 run partnership.

The collapse Brookhouse must have hoped for never materialised as Hanif Patel and Ahmed Miya weighed in with knocks of 20 and 15 respectively to make sure the underdogs kept their momentum going.

In reply, Brookhouse had a solid enough start with captain A K Mall and Imran Patel putting on 40 before Imran was bowled by Arshad for 13.

Siraz Patel soon followed for two and by now Mall was leading something of a charmed life having survived two dropped cathes.

It didn't seem to curb Mall's desire to go for the big hit and together with Muntazir the pair pushed the total along to 109 and put Brookhouse in control.

However, after a total of four dropped catches, Mall's luck ran out when he was caught by Siraj off Ashfaq for 63.

Brookhouse suffered a big blow when the big hitting Hussain Patel came and went for just one run and when Muntazir was stumped by Younis off Desai the balance of power was back with Little Harwood.

With three overs remaining, and with wickets in hand, Brookhouse required 26 runs for victory.

But Siraz Patel made a double breakthrough to dismiss Shabir and Jiva and victory was now in sight for Little Harwood.

Siraj and Salim could not find the big hits to put Brookhouse back in contention and when Siraj retired injured with three balls remaining, Zubair came in and hit two towering sixes but it was a case of too little too late.

Sports Council Cup final: Little Harwood (183-9) beat Brookhouse (182-8) LITTLE HARWOOD

Younis c Habib b Shabir...31

Lukman c Imran b Siraj...0

Mustaq c Zubair b Hussain...18

S Desai c Zubair b Hussain...69

Ashfaq c Zubair b Shabir...4

Hanif c Hussain b A K Mall...20

Amiya c Hussain b Shabir...15

Arshad b Siraj...4

Ayyub run out...1

Siraz not out...1

Iqbal not out...2

Extras...14

Total (9 wkts)...183

Bowling: Shabir 6-2-17-3; Hussain 6-0-40-2; Muntazir 3-0-24-0; Siraj 5-0-23-2; I Jiva 4-0-21-0; A K Mall 6-0-35-1

BROOKHOUSE

Imran b Arshad...13

A K Mall c Siraj b Ashfaq...63

Siraz lbw b Arshad...2

Muntazir st Younis b Desai...36

Hussain c Ashfaq b Desai...1

Habib run out...11

Shabir c Younis b Siraz...1

Siraj retired...1

Salim not out...4

Zubair not out...12

Extras...15

Total (8 wkts)...182

Bowling: Siraz 4.4-0-19-2; Iqbal 4-1-13-0; A Miya 5-0-24-0; Arshad 6-0-28-3; Ashfaq 6-0-29-1; S Desai 4-0-35-2