The third national BAPS Twenty20 Cricket Tournament was held on Saturday 7 August 2010 at Hainault Recreation Ground, East London, with 15 teams from across the UK – including Scotland – arriving early in the morning with a mixture of nerves and excitement.

Heavy rain threatened to delay play at the start of the tournament, but the ground held together perfectly. After the traditional opening ceremony in the presence of Yogvivek Swami and other sadhus, play got duly underway at 10:00am with the start of the first round games.

With 15 teams participating this year, last year’s champions – APC Lions – received a bye in the first round. The seven losing teams in the first round went through to the BAPS Plate Tournament, and the seven winners entered the quarter-finals of the main BAPS Twenty20 Trophy.

This year, the quarter-finals produced some exciting and tense moments in both tournaments, especially between APC Lions and Scotland where it went to the last ball. The Plate semi-finals were finely contested too, with East London A and Harrow B making it into the final. The BAPS Twenty20 Trophy semi-finals were also played out passionately with APC Lions and Harrow A progressing into the final.

With only the BAPS Twenty20 Trophy final having got underway, and with Harrow A on the ropes in this final – the skies opened and down came the heavy rain. With everyone crammed under the food tent, it seemed like the rain would never stop. Eventually, the sun did break through, but the ground was waterlogged and completely unplayable. There was no option but to decide the winners of both competitions with a bowl-out – the first ever in the tournament’s history.

The tense bowl-out provided a thrilling end to a well-played tournament with East London A triumphing in the BAPS Plate tournament, and APC Lions winning the BAPS Twenty20 crown for the second year running.

The closing ceremony and trophy presentation were held in the evening sabha at the Mandir with a special guest appearance from Indian international cricketer Sreesanth.

The competition was conducted in fine spirits and all the players thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to engage with fellow satsangis from other centres in the UK.