BULLS WIN NEPL 2ND X1 T20 WITH OUTSTANDING TEAM EFFORTS AGAINST CLS & HETTON LYONS: GEORGE GRAY & ALEX WEETMAN STAR.

3rd Sep 2023

BULLS WIN NEPL 2ND X1 T20 WITH OUTSTANDING TEAM EFFORTS AGAINST CLS & HETTON LYONS: GEORGE GRAY & ALEX WEETMAN STAR.

               SEMI FINAL: SNCC v CLS (h) Sun 3^rd Sept 2023: 20/20 from 1030.

SNCC 142-9 (20o) Alex Weetman 42, Will Alexander 13, Ru Fletcher 19, Ben Hobbs 23: Harry Days 1-22, Oli Barrett 0-29, Connor Pattison 2-25, Josh Metcalfe 3-23, Liam Colledge 2-29, Charlie Purdon 1-12.

Chester-le-Street 132ao (20o) Matthew Cranston 38, Charlie Purdon 27, Harry Days 27, Luke Allen 9, Oli Barrett 9: Josephine Nkomo 1-29, Gavin Paton 2-22, Ben Hobbs 0-28, Will Alexander 1-13, Sadiq Khan 1-20, George Gray 5-17.

SNCC won by 10 runs.

Chester had celebrated becoming NEPL Div 2 champions the day before, so, on winning the toss, the Bulls chose to bat in the first semi-final at 1030; Sadiq & Alex Charnley faced Days & Barrett. 6 from the first ball but in attempting another, Sadiq (6) was caught by Barrett on the boundary from ball 5, 9-1 after 1 over.

Two boundaries from Alex W from the second bowled by Barrett then 13 off the third bowled by Days, 5 to Charners & 6 to Alex W. From the last ball of the 5^th Alex C (7) was bowled by Pattison, 38-2. Another boundary to Alex W in the 6^th then in the 8^th Will A hit Barrett for 2,2,6. In the 9^th Will (13,19b,1x6) was bowled by Pattison, 63-3.

Ru struck a 6 & Alex 2 then 4 off Pattison in the 11^th but in the next after 5 wides, Alex (42, 31b,5x4) was bowled by Metcalfe. The rate slowed. Jacob (1) fell to Colledge in the 13^th but another maximum from Ru in the same over saw 97-5. In the 14^th Ru (19, 15b 2x6) was c & b by Metcalfe, 100-6. Gavin struck a 4 but in the next he was also bowled by Metcalfe (8, 8b, 1x4), 117 -7 after 17 overs.

Enter Ben Hobbs who proceeded to drive strongly through the offside to great effect, 9 off the 18^th, then 3x4 in the 19^th before being c & b by Colledge for a most valuable 23 (16b, 4x4). In the 20^th Angus (9) was bowled by Pattison, George 3*, a total of 142 -9.

Metcalfe & Cranston faced Nkomo & Paton. 4 from Josephine's first but Cranston took 11 & Metcalfe 3 off Gavin's first, 18-0. In the 3^rd Josephine had Metcalfe 4(6b) caught by Angus at deep square leg. Cranston & Purdon then batted with positive intent, 14 to Cranston off the 5^th, 8 more off the 6^th until the breakthrough by Will Alexander in the 9^th when he bowled Cranston 38 (22b, 3x4,2x6) who was aiming a big shot, 67-2.

Sadiq bowled the 10^th for 7 but in the 11^th George's first over went - wicket, dot, wicket, dot, wicket, dot!! A triple wicket maiden!! Purdon 27 (28b, 4x4) swung to deep square leg where Angus obliged, dot, Goodwin (0) defending, lbw, dot, G Harrison (0) edged to w/k Alex W, dot; the score after 11 overs, 81-5. A bit of a turnaround!

Only 1 off Sadiq's next then in the 13th, Allen 9 (11b) was caught by w/k Alex W off George, 84-6. 86 -7 as Colledge (1) was bowled by Sadiq. Some acceleration from Barrett & Days saw the score rise to 116 after 17 overs. then in the 18^th George, from the Grove end, completed his 5 fer when Barrett 9 (16b) was caught by Will at deep mid-wicket, 120-8.

In the last over Gavin bowled full & straight to defeat both Days 27 (18b, 2x4) & from the last ball, Pattison (2). A famous win by 10 runs!!

NEPL 2^nd X1 T20 FINAL:  SNCC v Hetton Lyons 20/20 from 1715.

Hetton Lyons 135-8 (20o) Steven Errington 27, Dan Walker 38, Taylor Moulder 24*: Matthew Tomys 9, Aaron Watson 9: Josephine Nkomo 2-16, Gavin Paton 0-26, Ben Hobbs 1-42, Will Alexander 2-9, Sadiq Khan 2-26, George Gray 0-17.

SNCC 138-5 (18.5o) Alex Charnley 4, Ru Fletcher 11, Alex Weetman 70*, Will Alexander 15, Sadiq Khan 10, Gavin Paton 11, Angus Southern 4*: Aaron Watson 1-26, Gary Adey 1-26, Eathan Dixon 1-19, Dan Walker 2-39, Taylor Moulder 0-21.

South North won by 5 wickets.

The Lyons won the toss & chose to bat after their semi-final win against Burnmoor just 30 minutes before. The light was still good. Lawson & Tomys faced the seam of Josephine & Gavin. Only two off the first, 11, including 6 wides, off the second but in the third Lawson (2, 7b) swung & was bowled by Josephine, 16-1.

25-2 in the in the 5^th as Hedley (7, 7b 1x4) drove hard to extra cover where Ru held a very good, low catch off Josephine. The sixth over bowled by Ben was a maiden, the only one in the final. 27-3 in the 7^th as Tomys (7, 22b 1x4) skied Will Alexander to Ru at mid-wicket & then Ben suffered as 14 came off his second including a 6 over long off. Will took his second wicket in the next as the powerful Watson (9, 7b,1x6) swung but only edged behind for Alex W to take the chance comfortably, 43-4.

Sadiq from the Grove then took a wicket first ball as Dixon (5) hit hard & high to long on where Ru held another good catch, 48-5. Captain, left-handed, Errington & Walker rebuilt, steering into spaces & rotating the strike. Gavin bowled his third for 4 but George, Sadiq & Ben suffered as 7,10,10,17, came off overs 12-15. In over 16 Walker 38 (24b,5x4,1x6) was bowled by Sadiq at 102-6, a vital breakthrough.

7 off the 17^th Josephine's last then 5 off the 18^th Sadiq's last. Moulder then batted with great intent striking 4,4,2, but Errington 27 (29b) edged behind off Ben in the 19^th 118-7 & in the last after 2.1.2.1.1 Worthy (2) was run out from the last ball, 135-8.

Ru & Alex C faced the seam of Watson & Adey.  An eventful first over, 4 to Alex C 4 byes, a wicket as Watson got one to come back into Alex (4) & bowl him. Alex W at 3 cut his first ball for 4, 13-1. 21 after over 2 as Ru struck Adey for 2 then 4. 10 off the next as the pair ran well taking 3x2 & then 4 x1, good batting.

40-1 in the 6^th as Ru (11, 18b,1x4) played on to Dixon's off spin. Alex W punished Walker in the 9^th cutting behind point twice for 4. 4 singles in over 10 but in the next Alex W drove through cover & then pulled for 6 off Walker, 78-2. Good running by Will & Alex in the next as 3x2 were taken, 86-2 after 12 overs.

In over 13 Alex survived a chance, edging Adey but flying w/k Tomys could only parry it for a single. From the last ball of the over Will 15 (23b) was adjudged lbw, 91-3. 6 from Moulder's first & then 2,2,4,1 from Adey's next as Alex drove & cut timing to perfection. Alex's 50 came up in over 14 & a delicate late cut for 3 saw the total rise to 97 after 14 overs.

Over 15 went for 9 as both Sadiq & Alex prospered & over 16 for 7 as Sadiq struck a boundary. In over 17 Sadiq (10,10b,1x4) mistimed to cover off Walker, 116-4 which became 122 by over end as Alex pulled to mid-wicket. Gavin struck a straight boundary from ball 2 of the 18^th which ended 130-4. In the 19^th Gavin 11, (11b,2x4) hit hard to mid-wicket where Watson pulled off a wonderful catch, leaping to his left to take the catch one handed in his right hand!!

Enter in form Angus Southern; Walker bowled & Angus 4*(1b,1x4) stroked elegantly to the mid wicket boundary to complete the win by 5 wickets. amid much applause from the home support. Alex Weetman 70* (49b,6x4,1x6) whose timing & shot selection were of the highest order under the pressure of a cup final.

NEPL Secretary, Gordon Halliday, who had spent his day delivering trophies/awards to the 3 other finals taking place, reflected that it was greatly appreciated that clubs returned to play one week after the original finals day had been rained off, that it seemed clear Chester had enjoyed a Saturday night of 2^nd X1 champions celebration, commended the bowling feat of 16 year old George Gray (5-17 & a triple wicket maiden) in SNCC's semi-final win, presented the (smaller than expected ! ) 2^nd X1 T20 Trophy to Ru Fletcher (SNCC Capt.) & the Player of the Match champagne to Alex Weetman for his 42 in the semi-final & then 70 * in the final.

A wonderful day for the Club & a deserved triumph for the 2's 

Let us finish well next Sat 9^th Sept: NEPL Division 2, SNCC v Hetton Lyons (a) 1130, 50/50 the last fixture & then back to the Club for some end of season celebrations. We hope to see you there.

Duncan.