Banbury
are off to the Kia Oval for the national finals following a nerve jangling
three wicket win at Peterborough Town on Sunday.
Chasing
Peterboroughs 107 for 7 in the regional final, Banbury scrambled home with two
balls to spare.
Nathan
Hawkes (28) and Jonny Cater (20) took them to 50-1 off nine overs, but the runs
dried up as wickets started to tumble, and they slumped to 67 for 5.
Needing
20 to win off the last three overs, Ian Tew, cool as ever under the pressure,
hit a straight six from left-arm spinner Callum French and Justin Lambden swept
three consecutive twos as 15 came from the 18th over.
Banbury
then only picked up two off the penultimate over, which saw Tew caught and
bowled by Paul McMahon to make it 105 for 7.
But
Ashley Blanchard and Lambden kept their nerve, with the latter hitting a two
off the forth ball of the last over to spark wild celebrations. Lambden has
only played 2 league matches for Banbury 1st XI, but he showed
immense maturity and a fearless attitude given the magnitude of the situation.
Luke Ryan also played a key innings of 15, including a big six of Paul McMahon.
Earlier,
Banbury had put up a terrific effort in the field after putting Peterborough in
to bat.
Blanchard
took two wickets in the first over, including that of danger man Asim Butt with
a viciously swinging and seaming delivery which caught the outside edge as the
big hitter looked to play to leg, it was one of two good catches for Jonny
Cater in the over. Ollie Wright also bowled an impressive opening spell and
removed French during the power-play. Banbury then turned to spin, as Jimmy
Phillips, Richard West and Luke Ryan continued applying the pressure, Ryan
shone with 2 for 14.
Now Banbury can look forward to
joining holders Wimbledon, Chester-le-Street and Ormskirk at the Oval on
Friday, September 13. The first Semi Final will be at 12.30pm, early reports
suggest that could be Banbury vs Wimbledon. Should Banbury make it, their Final
will be at 7.10pm.
For a gallery of photos from the day click here
For the match scorecard follow this link: http://banbury.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11828546
We will again arrange coach transport to the match, contact Jimmy for details