Bushey have their hands on a Watford Observer knockout cricket trophy for the first time since 1977 tonight after they defeated Plate holders Watford Grammar School for Boys by seven wickets.

The writing was on the wall once the understrength Rickmansworth Road school side had been dismissed for just 77 with four deliveries of their 14, eight-ball overs remaining and their opponents reached the target with the best part of six overs remaining at Bushey Sports Club.

In truth though, the final was a relatively low-key affair, partly as a consequence of it having to be rearranged at short notice as a result of last Tuesday's postponement due to bad weather.

The victors were still able to get a strong side out, but Watford Grammar, who were seeking their fourth victory in five years in the competition, had to make do with ten men and were without the services of key players Luke Samarasinghe and Matt Grinham.

Whether their availability would have made any difference is hypothetical but having won the toss and elected to bat, captain James Dyson and fellow opener Simon Walker struggled to get going as Bushey opted to take pace off the ball from the outset through Lakhmir Singh and Shahid Ashraf.

Both openers had already been dropped before Walker scored the first boundary of the match in the fifth over of the contest, followed soon after by Dyson (6) doing likewise only for him to perish two balls later when he was bowled by Singh to make it 27-1.

A lot already rested on Walker’s (20) shoulders at this stage, but when he was caught off Farooq Hameed – who went on to complete a double wicket maiden in the eighth over – Watford Grammar never recovered.

Hameed was to finish with four wickets while his skipper Mohammed Asif picked up two as none of the other school batsmen made it into double figures before their innings came to a premature end.

Bushey had no need to rush but Nomaan Ilyas showed he was in no mood to prolong the match for longer than necessary by hitting the first ball of the reply for four.

Fellow opener Michael Foley soon joined in on the boundary-hitting act and by the end of the third over his side were all but halfway to the target at 36 without loss.

Watford Grammar though, stuck at their task and in the next over Sam Moore bowled Ilyas (25) when he was at least two yards out of his crease, and in the fifth Foley (10) perished to a clip to mid-wicket.

Thirty-nine for two became 59-3 in the seventh over when Imran Mustafa (10) became Pettit’s second scalp, but Neil Jackson (9 not out) and Farouk Khan (7 not out) duly saw their club end a 39-year wait for a Watford Observer trophy.