Readers T20 Trophy Finals 21 August 2022

T/20 Trophy

Semi-Finals:

Berkhamsted 114 (17.4)

Letchworth Garden City 115 - 1 (14.4)

LETCHWORTH GC WON BY 9 WICKETS

Redbourn 92 (15.4)

Watford Town 93 - 6 (13.4)

WATFORD TOWN WON BY 4 WICKETS

Final:

Letchworth Garden City 181 - 4 (20)

Watford Town 182 - 9 (19.1)

WATFORD TOWN WON BY 1 WICKET

Watford Town secured the Herts T20 Trophy in dramatic style at Redbourn. Needing to score an unlikely 182 to overhaul Letchworth’s challenging total, they reached the target in the last over, with the last pair at the crease. This followed a convincing victory over host club Redbourn, in the earlier semi-final. Letchworth had shown their quality in the first semi-final, crushing Berkhamsted by nine wickets. Their overseas star, Christy O’Brien, had top-scored with 69 in that match and the Kiwi was soon into his stride in the final, putting on 90 runs with David Sprittles for the 2nd wicket, in just 10 overs.

When O’Brien fell to a great catch, he had smashed 81, including eight 4s and five 6s. The run-rate slowed with his departure but with Sprittles reaching 51 not out, the Watford batters still faced the challenge of scoring at more than nine runs an over to secure the silverware.

Openers Farhan

Hussain and Asad Sajjad took the fight to Letchworth in dramatic fashion, blazing 69 off the first four overs to give their team the belief that victory was possible. After Farhan went, three of the next four batsman fell without scoring but Asad batted brilliantly, scoring 49 off 24 balls. When he was 7th out, Watford still needed 75 to win, although with 10 overs in hand, there was plenty of time.

Syed Ali (33 off 21 balls) and Haseeb Khan (22 off 15 balls) took the team 48 runs closer to their target and within sight of victory. Syed’s effort was remarkable, batting through the pain of a serious hand injury, suffered when fielding. The fall of the ninth wicket, with the score on 174, set up the dramatic conclusion and at the start of the 20th and final over they needed just one run to win.

Off the first ball, Sheikh drove the ball straight at the mid-off fielder, who inexplicably dropped the catch, allowing the single which sealed victory, sparking a mini pitch invasion the triumphant team

T20 Big Bash

The highlight of the group stages of the T20 Trophy was the performance of Berkhamsted, against neighbours Northchurch. Berko batted first and in 20 overs scored an astonishing 274-0!

Charlie Doe 132* and Kasjuan Sullivan

121*. Northchurch scored 128-7 in reply.

Two legends hand over

Two of our leading clubs in the Championship, Flitwick and Hemel, will take the field under new 1st team captains, after their legendary skippers decided to stand down at the end of the 2022 season.George Thurstance had nine seasons at the helm at Flitwick and led the club by example, having scored 5,716 runs in the Championship at an average of almost 50. He scored an exceptional 20 centuries, with a number of those coming in matches that really mattered. His astute captaincy will be missed but his brother, Harry, will undoubtedly try and maintain the family standard. George will continue to add to his tally of runs and contribute to the club’s progress, and retains the captaincy of Bedfordshire. Harry will become just the 7th different Fliwick Saturday captain since 1985 – this consistency and dedication has proved significant in the ongoing progression and growth of the club. 2022 was Flitwick’s 25th season in the Herts League, during which time their various teams have earned 24 promotions and suffered 0 relegations. A proud record.

Presentations to outgoing skippers

Further down the M1, Nick Hodgins has retired as 1st XI captain after two spells, from 2009-10 and 2017-22. Since joining the Club in 2006, Nick played in 210 matches, taking a club record 406 wickets at average of 16.55, including 24 five-wicket hauls. His best was 7-42 v West Herts in 2010. He has also been handy with the bat, scoring 2,483 runs at average of 21.41, including six half centuries. His highest score was 74* also against West Herts, in 2012. As with Flitwick, there is a strong family connection and Nick has skippered teams which included two of his sons, Lewis and Will. Nick is universally respected across the county and has been a great ambassador for both the Club and the League. He will remain at the club, developing young cricketers and mentoring older ones.