Western Stars 220-7 Cleon Scotland batted for two hours with a broken finger, compiling a courageous unbeaten half century as he helped steer Western Stars to an exciting victory over Police in Saturday's Central Counties final at St.

John's field.

Scotland, hoping not to have to bat at all after fracturing the index finger on his right hand when fielding a throw at the bowler's end, was forced into a heroic performance after Police had the champions reeling at 86-4 after 22 overs.

After 12 more overs it was 119 for seven as Scotland lost Jermaine Postlethwaite, Arnold Manders and Gary Brangman, leaving him to not only protect his partners at the other end but also his painful finger which made shot-making difficult.

But then up stepped Hasan Durham -- no slouch with the bat as he previously opened the innings for Stars -- to play the type of supporting role badly needed. He and Scotland shared in an unbroken eighth wicket stand of 101 in 14 overs to clinch an improbable victory.

Police took the early initiative when, in defence of their modest 215, they reduced Stars to 26-3 after just five overs with Freston Hurdle claiming all three wickets in an exciting opening burst that removed Treadwell Gibbons, Albert Steede and Ricky Brangman.

Then after Postlethwaite and Saleem Mukudem steadied the ship with a fourth-wicket stand of 60 in 17 overs, the dismissal of Mukudem to an easy pop-up catch at short extra-cover to Dennis Archer in Dwayne Leverock's first over gave Police the upper hand.

In came Scotland at 86-4, but when three more wickets went down in the space of 33 runs -- including Manders and Brangman to lofted shots at long-off which Terry Thomas held -- Scotland knew he would have to play through the pain barrier to save his team from defeat.

"I wrapped the broken finger and when I got the glove on I taped two fingers (of the glove) together,'' explained Scotland.

"Leverock was bowling well and I was the only left-hander in the side and I felt I could absorb him. When Postlethwaite got out and then Arnold and Gary got out I knew I had to take the game to them and go down fighting.'' While Durham and Scotland ran well between the wickets, the Police fielders were not as agile and allowed too many runs. Few showed the same determination as Leverock who led by example with both his bowling and fielding.

"When Gary got out they were bouyant and talking and felt the game was over, but I knew the game wasn't over because Hasan has been batting well the last few games,'' explained Scotland.

"I told him to keep the ball on the ground and we would have a chance, because it was that type of day when if anything went in the air you were out.'' Leverock had impressive figures of 3-5 after six overs at one point before Scotland gained in confidence and began to attack more, hitting crucial boundaries as Stars brought the required run rate down from six an over in the last 10 overs to about four.

Eventually they won the game with seven deliveries remaining after Durham brought up the century partnership and the victory with a six over long-off off Archer.

Scotland finished with 59 not out, including six fours while Durham was unbeaten on 45, including six boundaries. Postlethwaite was the other main contributor with 47 in 113 minutes.

Scotland admitted it was one of his most important innings for Stars, though now he faces being sidelined for up to six weeks.

"What was hurting more were the defensive shots and a couple of yorkers,'' he said. "We got into a groove and just kept on going. We didn't see the score as 215, but as balls and runs left.

"As we got closer I said to Hasan that we could win it in singles, and I said it loud enough, that it drew the field in more as Stevie (Lightbourne) brought guys in closer. Then we started to push the ball past them and started to get a lot of twos.'' Leverock finished with four for 31 off his 10 overs, with three maidens, while Hurdle, the only other wicket-taker, claimed three for 46.

Earlier Dave Greenidge led the Police batting with 57, including eight fours and a six, while Ferdinand Thorne scored 25, Dennis Archer 22 and Michael Jackman and Andrew Rollins 13 and 18 not out respectively as they shared in a ninth wicket stand of 30 in the last four overs which brought up the 200.

Gary Brangman had two for 26 and Durham two for 33 for Stars.

"Everybody thinks Western Stars are a one-man team but if Albert fails somebody else steps up,'' said Scotland.

"A lot of teams think that once they get Albert out they are into the tail, but we have a lot of depth. Hasan was under some pressure after three ducks in a row at the start of the season.

"But he said `I'm going to score my runs when we need them'. And he came through yesterday. What we say at Stars is `no guts, no glory'.''