It was a cool but thankfully dry Sunday that greeted the eight finalists in the Christchurch Metropolitan Cricket Association Twenty20 Finals on Sunday 12 December.

Although the format is in its infancy, this was the first time that eight different clubs had claimed the eight finals spots, which ensured a great turnout of supporters across the four games at Hagley Park.

The OEM Audio Premiership final was played on Hagley 2 and turned into a thriller, going down to the final ball.

St Albans batted first and maintained a steady pace throughout their innings, which was anchored by 69* from Tyler Lortan. Nick Lidstone and Nicholas Hendrie provided valuable support.  All of the Old Boys Collegians bowlers trouble the batsmen at times, with Luke Germon and Will Graham bagging two wickets each.

Set 136 to win Old Boys Collegians were in early strife before Matt Boyle and Jeff Case got the score board moving, adding 87 for the third wicket.  When Case departed for 51 in the 14^th over, the game seemed in hand with 33 runs required off 36 balls and WASP showing a 90% chance of an OBC win.  But with Jack Lewis and Boyle out in quick succession and pressure mounting, it came down to seven being required off the final over bowled by Lachie Harper.

With a stunning catch off the penultimate ball by experienced gloveman Aaron Johnstone which also saved a certain boundary, left Will Graham needing a four off the final ball to tie the game or a six to win it, no easy task given it was his first on strike.  The records show it was a dot ball and St Albans claimed the win by four runs.  Their seventh Twenty20 title in the top grade.  Lortan was named player of the day.

Sumner and Lancaster Park met in the Championship final, which proved to be a one-sided affair, with Lancaster Park turning around a pool play loss to take the win.  A regular stream of Sumner wickets meant they were out for 68.  Zac Aldridge and Nathan Wingham claimed three wickets each with Paddy Sullivan and Josh McCarthy two.

Sumner fought hard and with four Lancaster Park batsmen dismissed for single figures they were thankful to Cameron Tabb with 43 for guiding them home.  Simar Kang claimed three for Sumner.

In Division One a resurgent Marist Harewood proved too strong for East Shirley.  Former Ranji Trophy opener, Hardeep Singh, continued his good run of recent form with 83 and he was well supported by Sudhir Pawar with 50* leading Marist Harewood to 146/3.

In reply East Shirley slumped to 17/6 before Tom Dixon and Tom McKay staged a recovery, but it all ended in vain, and East’s were restricted to 97/9.  Sudhir Pawar and Shafeeq Ismail picked up three each for Marist Harewood.

Division two was a close match between Riccarton and Heathcote.  Riccarton stuttered their way to 92/9.  Only Hasan Abdullah made it past 20.  Nouman Maqsood and Anthony Hunter each claimed three wickets for Heathcote.  Heathcote made hard work of the chase with only Jibin Joseph going past 20 for them.  With 12 required off 12 Quadrat Miyakhel hit two lusty blows to bring Heathcote home with an over to spare.

Thanks to the Umpires for their sterling efforts and top Andy Quinn, Ash Head and the rest of the Hagley grounds team for preparing excellent playing surfaces and outfields.

Article added: Friday 17 December 2021