Tidball T20 Cup Finals Day | Clyst St George 2nd XI defeat Cornwood 3rd XI in final | Van Der Walt’s 70 takes Clyst to north of 200 in final
By Ollie Smith
CLYST St George’s 2nd XI won the Tidball Insurance T20 Cup after defeating Cornwood 3rd XI by 31 runs.
The competition’s finals day, held at Cullompton CC, kicked-off with Cornwood beating defending champions Filleigh.
The ‘Wood chose to bowl first, and quickly reduced their opponents to 23-1. That wicket brought Filleigh captain Albert Buckley to the crease, who took a liking to the Cornwood bowling.
Buckley took 20 runs off a Charlie Carwardine over, and took a later over by Ethan Carlisle (2-34) for 15. He was eventually bowled for 71 by Carlisle; his knock included 12 fours and two sixes in just 30 balls. The next best batter for Filleigh was Gerrie De Beer, who clubbed five boundaries in his 29. Filleigh finished their 20 overs on 205 for nine.
In reply, Ewan Grewal continued his stellar form in the competition. He backed up his 47 not-out in the last round with a nine-boundary 51 from just 20 balls. His opening partner, Greg Thomas, didn’t have the same kind of form in his favour, he was out for just five.
Ethan Carlisle came in at three and matched Grewal’s tempo, hitting a six-laden 92. Carlisle lost Grewal early into their partnership with the score at 87 for two, and from then on Cornwood batters struggled to keep Carlisle company.
Mike Hodge and Joshua Whiting both fell for single figure scores, and by the time Carlisle departed, there were still 31 runs to get. Charlie Farmer hit a four and a six, to get them closer, and by the time the last over arrived, the ‘Wood needed 12 to win.
A wide helped reduce the total, as did some strong running, meaning Cornwood needed three to win from the last ball. They scampered two, so scores were level – Cornwood progressed courtesy of wickets lost, they lost six compared to Filleigh’s nine.
The other semi-final saw Heathcoat 3rd XI take on Clyst St George 2nd XI. Heathcoat put their opposition into bat, and dismissed opener Sam Corney for just five early on. Captain Stephen Bourke was back in the shed for the same score.
That was as good as it got for Heathcoat, as Tiaan Van Der Walt (62) and Ridouan Asselman (35) put Clyst St George back on track.Ozzie Besley hit two fours and two sixes in an unbeaten 41 to help his side to 190 for 5.
Van Der Walt (3-35) and James Smart (3-18) claimed three Heathcoat scalps apiece, as Clyst restricted their opponents’ run scoring abilities. Jack McManus’ 39 was the best of the Heathcoat batters, but no one else scored more than 20 as they fell 23 runs short.
In the final, Clyst batted first again, after Cornwood won the toss. The star of the show was again Van Der Walt, this time hitting 70 from 32 balls; there were four sixes and nine fours in his knock. 
Harry Attwater (43) was Van Der Walt’s support, and earlier on there were contributions from Sam Corney (22) and captain Stephen Bourke (24), as CSG finished on 207 for nine.
Cornwood’s response started explosive, but was defused quickly, as Ewan Grewal hit the first four balls of the opening over for 14, before he was bowled by Van Der Walt.
Ethan Carlisle carried over his good form from the semi-final, hitting 65, however he, and the other Cornwood batters didn’t score quickly enough, as they ran out of time on 169 for 5.
Victorious CSG captain Stephen Bourke believed his side’s score in the semi-final left them in a precarious position, largely thanks to Heathcoat’s fielding.
“We were happy to bat first on the wicket, and credit to Riduoan, who anchored the early part of the innings and got off to a reasonable start,” said Bourke. “With Tiaan, we knew we could always get a competitive score, and we hoped to get more than 200.
“Heathcoat fielded very well, and probably put in the best fielding stint we’ve seen all season. A few quick wickets meant 180 was our target, but some good hitting from Oz Besley pushed us up to 190.
“We knew that [190] was below par, but we also knew that if we bowled well then we could defend it. Katie Donovan and James Smart bowled brilliantly in the middle and death overs, and we were very happy to take 10 wickets on what we considered a batting pitch.
“In the final, we were happy to bat first after a very short turn around, again looking to that 200 par score. Contributions from the top five got us to 180 pretty quickly, but a flurry of wickets and a small collapse meant we aimed once again for 200.
“With 207 on the board, we always thought we were slightly ahead. More tight bowling from the bowlers, especially James Smart and Freddie Wilde who bowled brilliantly and bowled to plans.”
“We struggled to get wickets, but credit to our team for the commitment in the field to back our bowlers.”
“Credit to all those involved in getting the competition on, and many thanks to Heathcoat 3s, Filleigh, and Cornwood 3s for an entertaining day of cricket.”
