Lepton Highlanders and Skelmanthorpe’s overseas sensations both starred in the T20 Shield final with Skelmanthorpe’s Kasun Hewa (pictured above) coming out on top between the two explosive Sri Lankans. The match between two teams, both of whom have thrived in cup competitions this term, failed to ignite as the Lidgett Lane men added the T20 Shield to a silverware-laiden season. It was also a first ever T20 final for both teams; Skelmanthorpe though made it a weekend to cherish after celebrating promotion to the Premiership the day before.
30 year old Hewa, from Matara, enjoyed a fantastic all-round display as Skelmanthorpe dominated against their Conference opponents in a curtain raiser for the T20 Trophy final later in the same day. Allan Greenwood’s men were already familiar with Moorlands’ Memorial Ground after their Sykes Cup semi-final defeat in July but they kept a firm grip on this tussle from the moment they’d asked their opponents to bat first.
Lepton’s Tharushan Iddamalgoda was a obstinate presence in their innings but Skelmanthorpe were happy to work round him to target other batsmen as Lepton struggled under a five pronged bowling attack. Greenwood (2-25) and Adam Rammell (2-17) devastated the top order to isolate Iddamalgoda, affectionately nicknamed ‘Thrash’. Sayed Salman scored 32 to steady the ship as he worked well with the Lepton pro, but both soon departed which opened the door for Hewa to mop up by taking three lower order wickets with Lepton all out for a modest 116 with ten balls left.
George Sommerville laid anchor for Skelmanthorpe in the reply as the young batsman excelled with pressure removed. His 46no reinforced his side despite losing Adam Rollin for 5 runs early on and his partnership with the Sri Lankan soon dampened Lepton’s hopes although opening bowler Salman took two wickets. One of those was Hewa for 32, caught by captain Jacob Mulhall and although the prolific Ryan Robinson fell for just 2, Josh Megson (20no) stepped in to see the job home with a 117-3 reply.
