Justin Corday repeated his last-over heroics against The Associates to propel unbeaten Tuff Dogs to a dramatic six-wicket victory over Renegades, the defending champions, further tightening their grip on the Evening Cricket League title.

Corday smashed 20 off the final over bowled by Christof van Tonder — 2, 2, dot ball, 6, 6, 4 — as Tuff Dogs overhauled Renegades’ 157 for four, underpinned by a 40-ball unbeaten 77 from the captain, Ryan Miller, to clinch their eighth league win of the season.

Renegades’ defeat left The Associates three points clear at the top of group one after a half-century by Dave Horan helped steer them home with an over to spare against North Village.

Godfrey Grant produced two three-wicket hauls and Kevin Hurdle picked up five wickets as PHC moved up the group one table with a brace of victories in low-scoring matches against North Village and De Wicketest.

High Flyaz remained within three points of Tuff Dogs in group two — but from a game more — in group two after Gerald Simons and Shawn Riley set up their 28-run win over Fine Leg Byes with a century opening partnership before Noel Woods kept the opposition batting in check with a four-wicket return.

Fine Leg Byes also lost heavily to De Wicketest, whose 156 for two was engineered by Logan Phillips’s 77 and 48 from Paul Carr.

KPMG, who lost two fielders after a clash of heads in an abandoned match against Bailey’s Bay the previous week, suffered another injury early on before going down by 46 runs to West XI.

Corday, whose 22 from the only four balls he faced earned Tuff Dogs a last-ball win over The Associates last month, finished on 66 not out from 34 balls, including four sixes and five fours, fashioning a match-winning, unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 79 with Justin Barritt (17 not out) after the pair teamed up in the ninth over.

Tuff Dogs had made a poor start, losing McLaren Lowe for one, but Trevor Corday (30) and Monroe Darrell (29) steadied the ship before Justin Corday's last-over blitz got them over the line, cashing in on a tough dropped catch on the boundary off the last ball, which went for four with three required.

Earlier, openers Hugh Stanton (33) and Riaan Engelbrecht (27) gave Renegades a solid start with a stand of 44 after winning the toss before Miller tore into the bowling, striking four sixes and three fours.

"It was a great game," said Miller, whose side were missing Jayde Albertze, their leading batter.

“We knew we needed a big score against a strong Tuff Dogs batting line-up, so we were happy to post 157 for four from our 16 overs.

“We bowled well and took regular wickets, but Tuff Dogs kept themselves in it with some big hitting.

“We were disappointed we could not defend 18 off the last over, but credit to Justin Corday, who played a blinder to win it.”

He added: “It’s always a great game against Tuff Dogs. That’s two seasons in a row that the league game has come down to the last ball of the game.”

Simons and Riley shared an opening stand of 120 for High Flyaz, Simons hitting a six and six fours in his 61, while Riley’s unbeaten 45 contained four fours.

“Fine Leg Byes found the going very difficult and they were pegged back early by the bowling of Noel Woods, who claimed four for 28 from his four overs,” Simons said.

“Swadish Gond took two for 18 and Herbie Bascome only went for 17 runs in his four overs.”

After KPMG’s defeat by West XI, Michael Campbell, their captain, said: “We lost a player in the fourth over, so we were a man short for most of the game. But overall our bowling was not at the standard expected, which cost us several runs in extras and West XI took advantage with a good batting performance.

“The only meaningful contribution in our innings was Daniel Lourens with a brisk 31. The innings faded a bit after he was out.”