SKIPPER Charlie Mitchell drilled an unbeaten 63 as Abbotskerswell raced to an eight-wicket victory over Stokeinteignhead in the Brockman Cup final.
Abbots bowled out Stoke for 97 in the 18th of their 20 overs – young spinner Elliott Adams bagging five wickets for 17 runs.
Stoke found runs hard to come by from the start as Charlie Smout-Cooper (1-15) the Adams bottled them up.
There were outbreaks of run getting – Dan Britcliffe made 22, Andy Thornton-Clarke had 20 – but until Tom Wills (15) and Roger Putman (16) put on 27 for the eighth wicket there was no stand of note.
Ricardo Small-Boyce broke the stand and opening bowler Jonny Joseph (2-25) returned to take the last two wickets.
Stoke’s total always looked on the low side and so it proved as Abbots held on tight to the cup they won last season.
Captain Mitchell and dad Paul thrashed 30 in a hurry for the first wicket.
Paul Mitchell and Small-Boyce went 10 runs apart, which brought Aidan Lightowlers out to bat.
Lightowlers propped up his end while Mitchell went to work at the other, sweeping Abbots to victory in the 12th of their 20 overs.
It was one of the earliest finishes in recent seasons – and presented man-of-the-match adjudicator Barry Goldsmith with a dilemma.
Mitchell’s knock made him a strong contender for the award, but Goldsmith went for Adams and his five-wicket haul that set up his side to win.
The skipper had no complaints about missing out in the prize to his younger team-mate.
“I was just delighted to have retained the cup,” said Mitchell.
“Our young bowlers were all exceptional with Elliott Adams quite rightly picking up the man of the match for his five wickets.
“Eliott has only just turned 15 and has been fantastic all season.
“On the batting front we just had to have our sensible heads on, which we did.
“Nice to get a few myself but the bowlers made the batters lives easier.”
Mitchell added: “Thank-you to Stoke for playing the game the right way and to Torquay CC for getting the pitch and ground in tip-top condition.’