CONRAD SUTCLIFFE REPORTING
Finals day scoreboards
AT last! Stoke Gabriel finally got their hands on the Ivor Dewdney-sponsored Corinthian Cup after defeating Budleigh Salterton by five wickets in a gripping final at Cornwood.
It was Stoke Gabriel’s fifth consecutive appearance at finals day, from which they had gone home empty handed every previous time.
Both lunchtime semi-finals were shortened by rain-breaks. Stoke beat Plymstock by seven runs; Budleigh trounced Clyst St George by nine wickets.
Budleigh’s posted 175 for eight in a full-length Twenty20 final with Ed Doble (34) and Luke Domaschenz (53) getting them away to an 84-run start.
Stoke skipper Jack Tolley rotated his bowlers well to slow Budleigh in the second half and they were limited to 175 for eight. James Doble (31) was the last man out.
Runs from Justin Pringle (54), Abhishek Anand (22) – and a rapid 30 off 12 balls from Adriaan Maxwell had Stoke players and supporters daring to dream …
Budleigh bowlers Hugh Moore (0-31), Sid Fereday (2-28) and Ed Doble (2-38) were equally determined to shatter Stoke’s illusions.
Stoke reached the last three overs requiring 16 to win with six wickets intact. Liam Mair (15) and Mike Meech were the batters in residence.
It all came down to the final over from Ryan Harris-Cotton, who was bowling to Meech defending a two-run lead. Three dot balls only added to the tension before Meech launched Harris-Cotton back over his head for the match-winning six.
Pringle was named man of the match for his contribution to the run chase, although Maxwell (30, and two for 14 with the ball) potentially had a claim as well.
Said Tolley: “What a day! Credit to all of our players for giving everything to bring home the trophy at long last.
“Despite the ball flying around in the wet conditions we fielded very well.
“Our long batting line-up fired in both games and bowlers executed their plans, most of the time.
“Justin and Abhishek were fantastic up top and Adriaan came in and hit it from ball one in both games. The firepower from all of our batting got us over the line.”
Tolley added a thank-you to the ground staff at Cornwood for ‘getting the game on in bleak conditions.’
Losing in finals is never a great experience, but Doble saw this one quite positively.
“It was a great final to be a part of to, going down to the last balls of the game,” said Doble.
“Ultimately the game was lost with the bat in the final 10 overs as we should have been closer to 200.
“Our boys fought really well to take it as close as we did. Congratulations to Stoke Gabriel on a thoroughly deserved win.”
[O] STOKE Gabriel qualified for the final with a seven-run win over Plymstock in a rain-affected lunchtime semi.
Stoke Gabriel got as far as 129 for five before rain stopped play. South African big-hitter Maxwell made a top score of 60 off 31 balls.
Tyrese Karelse (2-16) and skipper Tom Mitch (2-9) were Plymstock’s meanest bowlers.
Plymstock were given 13 overs to make 130 to win – and couldn’t quite do it despite some punchy hitting from opener Josh Sumner (79no).
Eighteen to win from the final over, bowled by Stoke skipper Jack Tolley, was a few too many for Sumner and James Nicholls, who ran out of time on 133 for five.
Budleigh quashed Clyst St George by nine wickets in the other semi-final. Skipper Ed Doble carted the bowling for 86 off 28 balls as they chased 114 to win in a rain-reduced 16 overs and got them in fewer than nine!
Doble set the tone by taking 17 off the first over bowled by Clyst’s Andy Donovan. Ewan Cragg and Ollie Manning both bowled 20-run overs at Doble at the height of the carnage!
