Somerset VICC became BCEW David Townley Memorial Twenty20 Cup Winners for the third time thanks to two sensational performances during Finals Day on Saturday 17th September 2022 at Wolverhampton CC.
After a minutes silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II T20 Cup holders Northants batted first in their semi final against Lancashire but struggled to get going as they lost three wickets inside the first six overs, but then Asif Ali with support from Dave Keeling added 61 for the fourth wicket before Asif was Liaqat Hussain’s third victim falling LBW four short of a half century. Liaqat then bowled both Dave and Hugh Spence as three wickets fell for just three runs; as Liaqat ended with the fantastic figures of 5 for 24. It was left to skipper David Howells, batting down the order due to a shoulder injury, to rescue the innings; he scored 55 of the 63 Northants runs after he came to the crease as a total of 166 for 8 was posted. The Lions roared in reply and got well ahead of the rate as they scored 49 for 2 in the first five overs; but then Bilal Akhtar was run out by David Howells and the Northants bowlers, supported by good fielding, began to slow the scoring rate. A 52 run partnership was ended when Bashrat Mohammed hit wicket with 107 scored halfway through the sixteenth over. Tight bowling saw more wickets fall as the required rate got too high as Lancashire fell short on 146/7, with Bradley Newton out late in the innings for a well composed 64.
Meanwhile there had been great drama in a low scoring game on the other pitch where Sussex had batted first. Mikey Contreras opened the bowling with a two over spell that went for just 4 runs while picking up a wicket. Simon Ledwith started strongly before being bowled by Rob Crisp in an over that conceded 19 runs as well as taking Si’s wicket. Dan Field was caught and bowled by the Somerset skipper in the next over leaving Joe Harrison and Callum Weir to bat through to a reasonable 67 at drinks. Somerset then took charge – started by a wicket maiden from Rory Hossell and three overs that went for just four runs. They then picked up three wickets for just nine runs, including Phil Daniels who injured himself in getting bowled as he broke the stumps and Joe Harrison caught by Rob Crisp for 24 the top score of the innings. The final over was all Somerset as Ed Hossell got a run out and two wickets to leave a target of 100. Sussex bowled and fielded very well in what seemed an impossible task and did manage to restrict Somerset to 44 for 2 from the first 10 overs. At that point Ed Hossell had just joined Rob Crisp at the crease and Sussex knew his wicket was key so were delighted when he holed out to Dan Field from Ian Morris’s bowling. However Rob Crisp was now well set and supported by Rory Hossellthe final three of his 59 not out ended the chase with 9 balls to spare.
After an excellent lunch during which Frank McFarlane was posthumously inducted into the Blind Cricket Hall of Fame for his huge contribution to our sport, pitch two saw another low scoring game in the Third Place Play Off. Sussex scored 135, Marcus Kipling top scoring with 46 while Tahseen Sabir took 2-9. Sussex’s bowlers and excellent fielding limited Lancashire to just 95/8 in reply as Bradley Newton scored 45 while both Joe Harrison and Ian Morris picked up two wickets.
In the final Northants once again batted first and once again the west country bowling was supported by energetic and athletic fielding including a fantastic running catch by low partial Alan Mabey to leave the Steelbacks on 40 for 5, with David Howells and Asif Ali in the middle. The pair shared a battling partnership that ended when Matt Davidson caught David for 42, ending an 86 run stand with 9 balls left in the innings. Asif did reach 50 before being the second batter to be run out in the final over; Somerset had been set 136 to win. The first ball of their innings seemed to set the tone for Somerset’s chase as Ed Hossell steered a leg side delivery to the fine leg boundary for four. He and Rob Crisp rattled along at about 9 an over before Asif took a catch to give Howard Greenhill a wicket with 78 scored. Despite Rob’s dismissal Ed kept on scoring as he added 15 off the next over from Hugh Spence and reached drinks on 48 with the total on 100. There followed five tight overs from Northants that went for just 18 before Ed decided to take advantage of the lower sight in the field to plunder three boundaries plus a couple of well run twos to complete the chase in exactly 16 overs.
Liaqat Hussain won the best Low sighted player of the day award for his “five for”, whilst his cup winning 72 not out plus aggregate bowling figures of 8 overs, one maidens, five for 23 across the day won Ed Hossell the partially sighted player of the day award.
BCEW would like to thank Wolverhampton Cricket Club for their continued support in hosting finals day.