Renegades put one hand on the Evening Cricket League trophy after breezing to a 65-run victory over a weakened BCB Academy side, but The Associates remained in dogged pursuit with an improbable five-wicket win over Tuff Dogs thanks to a Tom Edwards six off the penultimate ball of the game.

The Associates, whose only defeat came against unbeaten Renegades, can narrow the gap to three points by beating the Academy at Shelly Bay tonight (Wednesday).

But it is expected to delay the inevitable by only 24 hours as Renegades — whose vastly superior net run rate is 1.62 compared to Forties’ 1.02 — face bottom club KPMG tomorrow (Thursday) in their tenth and final league match.

BCB Academy have lost most of their top Under-19 players because of overseas school commitments and have been forced to supplement their team by drafting in members of the Under-15s.

Even so, they restricted Renegades to 123 for four before replying with 58 for seven.

“They were doing very well on bowling until the last over which went for 25 runs. Could have been a different game,” said Durnferd Davis, the captain of Renegades, who took two for six after Richard Slater made 31 not out, Matthew Spencer 24 and Christof Van Tonder 20 not out for the leaders.

Tuff Togs, who had been bidding for a fifth successive league title, not only lost their fifth match of the season but their captain, Terence Corday, has been forced out with a rotator cuff injury.

“It’s torn and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to play any more this season,” said Corday, who umpired the game against The Associates.

The Associates needed 17 off the final over — bowled by Dennis Musson — after restricting Tuff Dogs to 106 for nine. Simon Jones hit a six, four and a single off the first four balls and then Edwards sealed victory with a ball to spare with the second six of the over.

Edwards had earlier been involved in a disputed catch on the square leg boundary, which led to the dismissal of Tim Davies, Tuff Dogs’ top scorer, for 40.

“Our team thought the ball was over [the boundary]. Their fielder [Edwards] was adamant he was in. Ultimately, I took the fielder’s word for it and gave [Davies] out,” said Corday, who added: “It was another good game that we threw away at the end.”

Azeem Khan chipped in with 23 for Tuff Dogs while The Associates’ attack was spearheaded by Will Tyrell’s four for 25 and James Troughton’s three for 34.

Opener Alex Brown was their top scorer with 31, Jones finishing unbeaten on 16 and Edwards on ten as Bevin Carr took two for 20 and Arnold Manders two for 23.

Fine Leg Byes moved into the top six after dismissing fifth-placed PHC for 56 before coasting home by eight wickets.

KPMG’s 90 for one — highlighted by an unbeaten 55 from Dylan Marshall, the captain, and 30 from James Annendale — was not enough to prevent De Wicketest easing home by six wickets thanks to Sam Robinson’s 36 not out and Logan Phillips’s unbeaten 32 as Adarsh Vijayakumar picked up two for 20.

Despite eight defeats, Marshall remained upbeat about KPMG’s chances in 2021.

“It has been a difficult season with many of our star players on international duties, maternity leave and quarantine, but we are hoping we have a bit of success in the transfer market during the off-season,” he said.

De Wicketest wrapped up their league programme with a five-wicket defeat last night (Tuesday) after West XI overhauled their 84 for seven.

The top six clubs will compete for the coveted knockout cup — currently held by The Associates — starting on Saturday, September 19. The bottom five clubs will compete in the plate.