What a difference a day makes.

Twenty four hours after being on the losing side in the Evening League?s Premier Division Knockout Cup final, in which he went wicket-less, charter fisherman Blake West had North Village reeling with a superb five-wicket haul that spurred Forties to a 57-run victory in the Commercial Cricket League knockout final.

It was Forties? 13th knockout title in 23 seasons and dashed Village?s hopes of their first league and knockout double.

Medium-pacer West?s match-winning performance netted him a five for 11 return in his allotted eight overs to engineer Village?s defeat as they slumped to 22 for six before eventually being dismissed for 81 in the 23rd over chasing Forties? 138 ? including four ducks ? on a poor Sea Breeze Oval pitch that provided little comfort for batsmen while taking a $300 chunk out of the league?s bank balance to cover the ground fee.

The victory mirrored Forties? success in the opening match of the season when they beat Village by five wickets in the delayed 2004 knockout final ? they also beat them in 1992, the last time they had met in the final ? and Sunday?s success was sweet revenge for the embarrassment of being routed for 28 by Village in a league match at Shelly Bay in June.

The two knockout reverses at the hands of KO kings Forties were the only defeats suffered by Village all season and their chances were not helped by the absence of top batsman Allen Richardson as well as David Scraders and Mike Payne, who were all off the Island, but team spokesman Wendell Lindsay said: ?I?m not using that as an excuse.?

Forties, without their influential skipper Gordon Campbell ? who was attending his daughter Jennifer?s wedding ? lost the toss and were sent in by Village skipper Mike Levon ? a blessing in disguise as it turned out.

?Batsmen on both sides struggled with balls that would either shoot along the ground or jump in people?s faces,? said Lindsay.

?They (the ground staff) did some work on the outfield but the pitch was sub-standard and it deteriorated as the afternoon went on. It was one of those days.?

Forties? jubilant stand-in captain Braxton Stowe admitted he would have sent Village in if he had won the toss and joined in the chorus of complaints over the pitch.

?We were hoping to send them in but it ended up being a good call. I felt confident at the changeover. The ball kept scooting and popping up. It was really bad.?

Forties started brightly with an opening stand of 25 between Gerald Bean (21) and Harold Minors (nine) but slipped to 53 for four before recovering to 96 for five as Rohan Davis made 24 and David DeSilva, the day?s top scorer, fought hard for his 33, including three sixes. Stowe (27) then added a crucial 32 runs for the last wicket with Brian Holdipp (five not out).

Pick of the Village attack was Reggie Benjamin, who bagged three for 20 from 7.2 overs, while Kevin Mallory and Andre Burgess took two for 16 apiece and Ricky Hill chipped in with two for 32 from eight.

In reply, Village made a disastrous start as West began with a wide but then had Levon caught behind for a duck next ball ? a dismissal followed by a clatter of wickets as the league champions slumped to 35 for seven in the 14th over, including Kenny Thompson (nought), Ernest McCallan (two) and the key wicket of former Cup Match star Hill, who was superbly caught by a diving Stowe at silly point for six off Brian Holdipp (two for 26 from seven overs).

Chris Caisey gave the Village total an air of respectability by launching a furious assault on leg-break bowler Oscar Andrade?s only over which went for 23 but West struck with the first ball of his second spell to bowl Caisey off an inside edge for 25 before DeSilva, also on the losing side on Saturday, snapped up the final two wickets to finish with two for nine from 5.2 overs, leaving Benjamin stranded on 20 not out.

Meanwhile, The Associates won the Evening League Premier Division KO Cup for the second year running by thrashing a weakened Stephen West?s XI by eight wickets at the National Sports Centre on Saturday, a far simpler task than last season when they scraped home by one wicket.

West?s XI, missing a number of key players including Village?s Allen Richardson, slumped to 79 all out in 23 overs of the 28-overs-a-side final as medium pacer Dick Witkowski picked up three for three in two overs, left-arm slow bowler Ronnie Nathu three for 15 in six and Gordon Campbell two for 27 in seven, Kenny O?Connor top-scoring with 27.

The Associates eased to 80 for two in 17.2 overs after an opening partnership of 56 between man of the match Mark Melvin (40 not out) and Mark Finnigan (20). Blake West, Forties? hero a day later, finished with nought for 12 from four overs.

Nick Frost won the award for best catch ? a flying second slip dismissal to get rid of Granville Bennett for two ? while Campbell took another superb catch in the gully to dismiss his Forties team-mate David DeSilva for 16 after he had stroked four boundaries.

The Health Department won the Premier Division title but lost to West?s XI in the cup semi-finals.

Coopers & Lybrand won the Second Division KO Cup on Saturday morning with an emphatic 53-run victory after compiling 142 for five in their 28 overs and then dismissing league champions Marine & Ports for 89 in 26.4 overs, Simon Lambert winning the man of the match award with four for 22. Top scorers for the winners were Matthew Spencer (34), Tim Goodyer (29) and Chris Troskie (28).