Wimbledon CC emerge victorious in ECB National T20 Cup Final
Wimbledon CC were crowned champions at The Incora County Ground on Sunday, defeating Sandiacre Town by 15 runs in a close fought encounter.
Sandiacre Town won the toss and elected to field first, however the first few overs went the way of the Wimbledon opening batters, Nick Welch and Jonathon Webb. The pair put on 64 for the first wicket inside seven overs, before Sandiacre found a breakthrough as Welch (38) was bowled by James Lawton.
At the halfway stage of the innings, Wimbledon were in a strong position with the score reading 79 for one, but three balls later set batter Webb (29) fell leg before to John Jordison.
The next couple of overs belonged to Wimbledon as batters David Scott and Tim Lloyd kept the scoreboard moving along, including 14 runs off the 15th over.
However, the last five overs of the innings belonged to the Sandiacre bowlers as they managed to restrict the Wimbledon total to 140 for four, with only 26 runs coming off the last five overs of the innings. Dan Wheeldon and Connor Marshall picked up one wicket apiece at the death, as well as Ryan McFadyean restricting the Wimbledon batters.
In reply, Sandiacre had a bright start, as openers David Torr and Yousaf Bin Naeem found the boundary to help their side to 27 without loss after three overs.
An unfortunate mix-up between Bin Naeem and Torr saw the latter run out at the start of the fourth, and two balls later Richie Lamb was bowled without scoring by Scott McNeill to leave the game finely poised.
Billy Sewell (11) was the next man out for Sandiacre, but Bin Naeem anchored the innings well as Sandiacre continued to score at the required rate. After 10 overs, Sandiacre had reached 72 for three and the game was hanging in the balance.
Unfortunately for Sandiacre, Bin Naeem (35) was bowled by Scott in the 12th over, before a match-defining 13th as Scott Conway claimed two wickets in two balls to remove Lawton and Bill Anderson.
The required run-rate continued to climb for Sandiacre, as Conway picked up his third wicket, removing Wheeldon caught and bowled for three.
McFadyean (8) and Marshall (26) both fell in the space of four balls to leave the Sandiacre tailenders too much to do.
Jordison scored 10 off two balls at the end of the 18th over bowled by Alex Whipple to give Sandiacre a glimmer of hope. However, Wimbledon wrapped up victory from the other end, as Jordison was caught by Tom Cooper off Jonathan Speller to give the Wimbledon CC players their crowning moment.
Wellington CC winners in Plate Final
Wellington CC were crowned ECB National T20 Plate winners in the first game of the day at The Incora County Ground, with spin playing a key part in both innings of the game.
Having elected to bat first, Old Elizabethans had a steady start, with openers Adam Wiffen and Jack Taylor reaching the end of the powerplay at 31 without loss.
Taylor hit Wendell Wagner for six in the seventh over, however spinner Dinesh Perera removed the batter on 23 as he was caught by Will Lewin.
Wagner bowled Wiffen (22) in the 11th over to leave Old Elizabethans 54 for two before new batters Nathan Dobbins and Jude Rees joined together at the crease.
The Wellington bowlers restricted the pair who were unable to find the boundary during their partnership, before Daniel Lloyd bowled Dobbin (16) at the start of the 16th over. Rees then departed the next over as Perera trapped him LBW as Wellington dominated the final few overs of the innings.
Lloyd picked up a further two wickets in the 18th as Alex Bastable and Jacob Hockey were dismissed in consecutive deliveries. Wellington captain Lloyd claimed his fourth wicket in the final over as Taylor Pugh was trapped in front, meaning his side would need 103 runs for victory.
Daniel Vaughan and Lloyd strode out to open the batting and started positively scoring 29 runs off the first three overs. Old Elizabethans knew that taking wickets would be imperative, and Amar Jawanda had Lloyd caught by Nick Buckle in the fourth over to check the Wellington run rate.
A steady few overs followed, before the introduction of Daniel Colburn brought about instant reward with the seamer removing William Mashinge (6). Colburn then struck at the start of his next over as Vaughan (38) was also bowled to leave Wellington needing a further 32 runs off eight overs.
The Wellington CC nerves grew somewhat more as David Lewin (15) was caught and bowled by Jawanda at the end of the 13 and spinner Rees bowled three overs for five runs, including the wicket of Wagner to push the contest into the final two overs of the game.
With scores level, Old Elizabethans field came up close to prevent Hugh Morris taking a quick single, as Rees tried his hardest to prevent the batter getting the crucial run. Five dot balls passed before Morris finally managed to lift the ball over the top of the field to seal the victory for Wellington.
