BULLS CONVINCING NEPL T20 QUARTER FINAL VICTORY OVER BENWELL HILL. Mon 20 July 2026: NEPL T20 ¼ final: SNCC v Benwell Hill (h) 20/20.

20th Jul 2026

Benwell Hill 111ao (18.1o) Joe Fletcher 13, Jayam Patel 32, Ayush Chakraborty 17, Michael Maclauchlan 21: Ben Hobbs 0-12, Will Phillips 2-25, George Gray 1-16, Nicky Phillips 3-17, Joseph Dresser 0-22, Danny Collins 4-14.

SNCC 112-1 (12.1o) Nick Tomlinson 30, Sam Ewart 55*,Angus Southern 24*: Peter Jones 0-30, Ayush Chakraborty 1-25, Nazifullah Habibi 0-10, Aaron Armstrong 0-24, Jayam Patel 0-17, Michael Maclauchlan 0-5.

SNCC won by 9 wickets, advance to finals day on Sun 16 August at Ashington

first semi final c 1100 Ashington v SNCC, second semi final c 1345 CLS v Sacriston, final c 1700.

A sunny evening at Roseworth Terrace, the visitors chose to bat, the wicket pitched towards the Moor Road side. Fletcher & Patel faced the seam of Ben Hobbs & spin of Will Phillips. 12 from  the first including 2 no balls & a wide but in the second Fletcher (13) was bowled by Will one ball after a boundary.

George Gray bowled a tidy 4 over spell for only 16 & in his second Chakraborty (17) was well caught by Angus Southern, low at short, straight extra cover, 41-2. Between overs 6-10 no boundary as batters found it difficult to cope with the experience of Nicky Phillips & the tidy length of George. 

In the 8^th Wagh (4) reversed Nicky to backward point where George took the catch diving forward, 51-3.  Two overs later Armstrong's (2) mistimed sweep in the air was caught by Nick Tomlinson at short fine leg, 57-4. Nicky took a third wicket in over 12 as Dawson (7) drove to the cover boundary only to see Hobbsy dive forward to take an excellent catch at full stretch, 67-5. Nicky 4 overs 3-17.

Joe Dresser completed 4 overs for 22 but it was Danny who cleaned up, taking 4-14 in three overs as Patel (32) was lbw, Safi (0) bowled, Jones (3) bowled & L Hynd (0) caught by w/k Sam Ewart, 111-9 . The innings ended from the first ball of the 18^th over as Maclauchlan (21) skied Will Phillips into the legside for w/k Sam to wait & take the catch 8 yards from the stumps. 111 all out with 11 balls remaining.

In reply Nick Tomlinson & Sam Ewart faced the slow left arm of Peter Jones & brisk off spin of Ayush Chakraborty. Jones suffered as Nick struck 6x4 &1x6 in 12 balls to cover & mid wicket, until he drove off the back foot to be caught at cover in the 4^th Nick (30,16b 6x4 1x6), destructive clean hitting, great start, 39-1after 4 overs.

Angus Southern joined Sam & the pair put together an undefeated  partnership of 73 to win the game in the 13^th over. Sam reversing 2x4 in over 2, striking Habibi for 6 then 4 in the 5^th , 49-1 after 5 overs.

Armstrong (lb) began a spell in the 6^th Angus cover driving for 4. Chakraborty's last went for 10 as both Sam & Angus struck boundaries, 71-1 after 8 overs. Patel's one over leaked 17 as Sam stroked through extra cover off the back foot for 4 then reversed for 6, Angus driving through cover for 4. 93-1 after 10 overs.

Sam got to 50* driving Armstrong through cover & straight for 4. Over 12 from Maclauchlan  saw a boundary for Sam & from the first ball of the 13^th over Angus swept Armstrong for 4. Sam 55* (37b, 9x4, 2x6) Angus 24* (29b, 4x4), an emphatic 9 wicket victory. Tight bowling, good catching, keen fielding, positive & inventive batting making the difference.

Onward to T20 finals day at Ashington on Sunday 16^th August.

semi final one: c 1100 Ashington v SNCC semi final two c 1345 CLS v Sacriston :  final c 1700. 

We hope you can be there, excitement guaranteed !

Duncan.