Superb Jones Helps Delph Retain T20 Trophy 

Mirfield Parish Cavaliers, in their first ever Huddersfield League final, secured their first trophy since switching from the Central Yorkshire League in a thrilling match against Clayton West to win the Total Indoor Cricket Solutions T20 Shield. Meanwhile, in the showpiece T20 Trophy final, Delph & Dobcross found top gear to spectacularly brush aside the challenge of host club Armitage Bridge.

Total Indoor Cricket Solutions T20 Shield Final

Clayton West elected to bat first in sunny conditions and put on a solid performance led by the opening batsman Tom Barber. His crowd-pleasing 74-ball unbeaten 72 enabled Clayton West, cheered on by a loud travelling contingent, to post a competitive score of 143-2. Clayton West's enigmatic skipper Kyle Hitchman survived a dropped skied catch by the Mirfield Parish wicketkeeper but was eventually caught by Tim Orrell off the bowling of Tom Fretwell. Barber was well supported by Alex Rank (23no).

Mirfield Parish Cavaliers recovered from the early setback of losing the inspiring Orrell to the bowling of Craig Glover in the second over without scoring as Dan Broadbent (30) started to lay down a stage for Nasir Hussain (52no) to really go to town on the Clayton West bowling, although he survived being dropped carelessly earlier in his innings which arguably may have changed the course of the game. The sparks really did start to fly once Jamie Hardcastle (34) came to the crease as he slammed 34 runs from only 15 balls to assert control. Mirfield's chase was timed well and they overcame the Clayton West total with 11 balls remaining with Hardcastle taking the man of the match award following a knock that clearly pushed Parish well above the rate at the ideal time.

Total Indoor Cricket Solutions T20 Trophy Final

In the second match and a late-afternoon weather forecast that looked bleak at best Delph & Dobcross won the toss and chose to bowl first against an Armitage Bridge team that had already inflicted defeat upon them in the group stages back in June. It proved to be an inspired preference as the Delph pace bowling attack of Wasim Qasim (2-19) and Michael Finan (3-6) kept the hosts firmly under their control. Armitage Bridge lost their powerful opening quartet to a combination of fierce bowling and outstanding fielding, in particularly a pair of incredible catches. Opener Matthew West (17) fell in the deep to a superb over-the-shoulder catch by Nathan Jones before New Zealander Jaycub Curtling (4) was taken out by a spectacular left-handed diving catch low down by Mosun Hussain at mid-wicket. From there the host club struggled to gain any real momentum with only Andy Gledhill (23) preventing a complete collapse as a pair of swift stumpings by Grant off the bowling of son Nathan Jones (3-24) took the heart out of their innings. 14-year old prospect Xander Selby (1-21) also chipped in with the wicket of skipper Daniel Moorhouse (1) as Delph wrapped up the hosts innings on 81ao.

The threat of thundery showers meant Delph needed to get their reply off to a flyer and did so with the potent batting of Mosun Hussain (18) and Indian professional Shreevats Goswami (27), playing his last match for the club before departing for his homeland. After Hussain was bowled by Moorhouse and captain Goswami trapped by the same bowler LBW attempting a flamboyant flick shot, Delph were well on course. With only 20 needed to win, the experienced Graeme Simpson (15no) took few needless risks and it was Nathan Jones (21no) who saw Delph home. His striking 7-ball knock secured the win off only 12 overs in spectacular fashion with a pair of drilled sixes straight over long-on to secure a well-earned man of the match performance to go with his three wickets and two excellent catches from the first innings. Delph & Dobcross retained the T20 Trophy for another season.