Congratulations to both Shepherd’s Bush Cricket Club and Gunnersbury Women’s Cricket Club who have enjoyed great success this season in their respective T20 competitions.
Both sides have done the county proud, with Shepherd’s Bush lifting the Middlesex T20 Cup and going on to represent Middlesex in the ECB’s national T20 competition, making it all the way to the regional final, whilst Gunnersbury Women have gone one better and have made it to the national final of the ECB Women’s T20 Cup, due to be played at Wormsley on 18th August.
Read all about both club’s respective successful T20 Cup journeys below…
In the Men’s competition, Shepherd’s Bush secured the Middlesex T20 Cup title on Sunday 21st July, defeating Ealing in a closely fought encounter on Finals Day at Stanmore Cricket Club.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Shepherd’s Bush posted 182 for 6 in their allotted 20 overs, with runs shared across the top and middle order, with Joe Carrasco top scoring with 46 from 34 deliveries. In reply, Ealing could only muster 172, despite a half-century from Harjot Rajasansir, who hit 54 from 44 balls. Shepherd’s Bush’s Hugo Hughes was the pick of the winning sides’ bowlers, taking 3 for 32 from his 4 overs.
Shepherd’s Bush’s victory in the Middlesex T20 Cup earned them the right to represent Middlesex in the ECB National Cup, and their reward was a regional semi-final tie against Esher from Surrey, played last Sunday at New Wimbledon Cricket Club, which they came through by the margin of eight wickets.
Winning the toss again, Shepherd’s Bush skipper Fin Trenouth stuck the opposition in, and his bowling unit duly delivered, taking regular wickets to restrict the Surrey outfit to just 135 in their 20 overs. Wickets were shared around, but figures of 2 for 7 from 4 overs from former Middlesex EPG player Chinmay Mullapudi saw him stand out as the pick of the bowlers.
In reply, Shepherd’s Bush made light work of the chase, getting over the winning line at a canter, with over 5 overs to spare, as scores in the thirties from each of the Bush’s top three of Idris Otto-Mian (31), Ikjot Thind (36) and Mitch Crayn (32*) got the job done.
Shepherd’s Bush duly went on to represent Middlesex in the regional final, where they were paired against Hayes from Kent, who had earlier beaten Essex’s Hornchurch in the other regional semi-final.
Trenouth again won the toss and stuck Hayes into bat, although this time the opposition batters put up far more resistance. An unbeaten 90 from Hayes opener Finnan Bryan and 63 from number three Gareth Severin saw the Kent side post a hefty 199 for 2 in their allotted 20 overs.
In reply, the loss of three early wickets did for the Bush, leaving skipper Trenouth and number five Marcus Howard the job of repairing the innings whilst still chasing ten an over. Half centuries from the pair of them, 50 off 26 for Trenouth, and 59 off 40 for Howard, weren’t enough to see their side to victory, as the Hayes bowlers closed out the innings with Shepherd’s Bush falling agonisingly short, losing the regional final by just seven runs.
Hayes will now go on to represent the Southeast in the next round of the ECB National Cup.
In the Women’s competition, Gunnersbury are chasing a huge piece of history, as they look to become the only side in the history of the ECB national Women’s T20 competition to lift the trophy for a third time!
Gunnersbury’s campaign began back at the end of April with a Group 3 tie at Ostlers Lane against Stony Stratford Cricket Club from Milton Keynes, which they duly won to earn a round two tie against Middlesex opposition, Hampstead Cricket Club.
Hampstead skipper Emma Edwards won the toss, although the Gunnersbury bowlers were on top from the first ball, restricting Hampstead to a total of just 65 for 8 in their 20 overs. Pick of the bowlers was Gunn’s Bhoomika Batt, with incredible figures of 3 for 5 from her four overs.
In reply, Gunnersbury knocked off the runs with ease, with three overs to spare, running out winners by 9 wickets, with 29* from former Middlesex Women’s player Cath Dalton the top score of the innings.
Gunnersbury’s reward was a Group 3 quarter-final tie against Thriplow Cricket Club from Cambridgeshire, although their concession of the match saw Gunn’s progress through to the next stage without the need to bowl a ball in anger.
In the Group 3 semi-final Gunnersbury faced a tie against a strong Bishop’s Stortford side from Hertfordshire, who they duly despatched to earn themselves a place in the Group 3 Final, played at the end of July at Old Elizabethans CC against Spencer Cricket Club from Surrey.
Spencer’s Captain won the toss and elected to bat first, although tight bowling from the Gunnersbury attack never let them settle and the loss of two early wickets really set them back. They were dismissed inside the nineteenth over, with only 93 on the board, with another former Middlesex Women’s player, Hannah Wakeman, starring with the ball for Gunns when picking up figures of 3 for 16 from her four overs.
In reply, Gunnersbury got over the winning line with three overs to spare, for the loss of just three wickets, with Elsa Barnfather top scoring with 26 and Gunn’s skipper Kylie White hitting 25, to take their side through to the national stage of the competition, where they would face Hursley Park Cricket Club from Winchester in Hampshire in the national semi-final.
Hursley Park’s skipper, Charlotte Bryan won the toss, elected to bat first, and her top order duly responded, with each of the top four hitting double figure scores as they steadily built their innings. The introduction of Bhoomika Bhat halted their momentum however, as the Gunn’s bowler returned fabulous figures of 4 for 19 from her 4 overs to restrict Spencer to a total of 108 for 9 in their 20 overs.
Gunnersbury’s reply started shakily, with the loss of two early wickets, although a recovery from Middlesex’s Natasha Miles (24) and an unbeaten half-century (51*) from Barnfather saw them regroup and get to the victory target after 18 overs to earn themselves a place in the National Final.
The Final will be played at Wormsley Cricket Ground on Sunday 18th August, when they’ll face Dorridge Cricket Club from Warwickshire, who overcame Sessay Cricket Club from Yorkshire in the other national semi-final.
Spectators are welcome to attend the National Women’s T20 Final at Wormsley, which gets under way at 3pm, as Gunnersbury chase a magical piece of history.
Congratulation to Shepherd’s Bush on their achievements in the Men’s competition, and to Gunnersbury, who we wish every success to in the final a week on Sunday.
