A Finals Day to remember…

September 14, 2020

The culmination of this years Suffolk T20 Cup proved to be a fitting finale for all involved.

With the competition re-named and re-structured for 2020, 8 teams made it through to the Finals Day of the ‘Thank You NHS’ Suffolk Cup at Woolpit CC. The new format saw 4 tiers created for the first time which encouraged more teams (38) to enter in the group stages.

After a busy few weeks getting fixtures organised and played in a much shortened season, it was Sudbury and Sawston and Babraham (Tier 1), Woolpit and Easton (Tier 2), Battisford and Easton (Tier 3), and Woodbridge and Bury St Edmunds who qualified for the Finals Day.

A glorious day at Woolpit welcomed the morning fixtures of Easton 2s v Battisford and Woolpit 2s v Easton 1s.

The tier 3 final saw Battisford bat first and score consistently through their innings to set an imposing 184. Chris Bull and Roland Armstong starred with the bat both retiring after reaching a 50.

In response Easton lost early wickets through Jordan Peacock and Adam Fairfull which curtailed any hopes of a strong Powerplay. Despite some valiant resistance wickets continued to fall, (Marcus Alderton 3/30), with Easton 30 short of their target.

Battisford & District CC

Playing on their home ground Woolpit 2s took to the field first against Easton. Alex Sayer was the main stay of the Easton effort making 50 and although most batters got starts wickets fell consistently resulting in a total of 144. Chris Gourlay taking 3/15 from 2 overs checked Easton’s attempts to post a more challenging total.

Woolpit’s innings got off to a fine start with Alex Packer (49) and Jonty Lecompte (21) putting on 50 for the first wicket. A mid-innings wobble did threaten to bring Easton back into the game, but Woolpit saw the game home winning by 4 wickets with 9 balls to spare.

Woolpit CC

In the tier 4 final a young Bury St Edmunds side fought bravely against Woodbridge. Batting first Bury set a target of 142 with Simon Aldous top scoring with 27. Some strong hitting from Marcus Smith who retired on reaching 50 led the way for Woodbridge who chased down the runs with overs to spare.

Woodbridge CC

Over on the main square Subdury and Sawston & Babraham served up a treat for the socially distanced crowd. Winning the toss and electing to bat Sudbury got off to a flyer reaching 60/1 from the 1st powerplay. The runs continued to flow with James Poulson (39), Darren Batch (52 ro) and Ryan Vickery (46*) setting a foundation for a possible 200+ total. However, Sawston & Babraham responded and checked the Sudbury momentum keeping them to 172 off 20 overs.

The Sawston & Babraham reply was led by a rapid 50 from 30 balls by James Van De Peer. Scott Stanford’s 31 continued to keep the chase in touch with the rate but the loss of Stanford, Dan Heath and Alex Stafford seemed to push the game in Sudbury’s favour. George Darlow though, had other ideas as a blistering 37 from just 17 balls meant 12 were needed off the final over.

Darren Batch for Sudbury took on the responsibility with the ball with Darlow on strike. 6 from the first 2 balls kept the game in the balance until Batch took the crucial wicket of Darlow with 3 balls remaining. A couple of two’s off the next 2 deliveries meant Sawston & Babraham required 2 from the final ball of the competition. Batch held his nerve bowling into the gloves of Adam Mansfield to give Sudbury the title for a successive season. An incredible game to finish the season on, well played to both teams!

Sudbury CC

A massive thank you to the team at Woolpit Cricket Club for being brilliant finals day hosts. Also thanks to our umpires for the day Stephen Lilley, Peter Allen, Tom Smith and Ron Raisey.

Finally, a thank you to all of the teams who took part in this years competition. We are pleased to confirm that over £350 has been raised by teams donating their competition entry fees to local NHS charities.

#SuffolkFinalsDay #ThankYouNHS

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