ACOB make T20 final

Athletic College Old Boys will face Wolves in the premier grade T20 final after a tense winner-takes-all eliminator on Wednesday evening.

Batting first against Stoke-Nayland, ACOB posted 183/4 before defending their total as the sun started to set at the Maitai Cricket Ground.

The 17-run win, with Stoke-Nayland finishing 166/7, saw both teams have their moments in a game that went down to the wire.

Having won the toss, a crucial moment in the game, and with the setting sun becoming increasingly difficult for the batsmen as the game wore on, ACOB limped out of the starting blocks with two early wickets before regaining their feet.

Sam John (73 not out) and Finn Restieaux (72) put on a 129-run third-wicket partnership that was only lost when they looked to accelerate at the death, having put their team in a prime position.

The artificial turf seemed to favour the batsmen, with most wickets coming from a batting error rather than bowling pressure.

It also gave ACOB the opportunity to target bowlers, with two Stoke-Nayland bowlers averaging over 10 runs an over.

Despite the strong total, the visiting side didn’t seem intimidated as they set to work hunting down the total in the second innings.

They got off to a red-hot start through the powerplay overs, with Chris Dittmer (42) and Jonty Raxworthy (44) each facing just 23 balls for their runs.

Having scored 68 runs in the powerplay, a leading edge in the sixth over saw Jonty caught just as he started to heat up and looked to be in punishing form.

With Chris’s dismissal one of three scalps for Ronan Restieaux and his second within three balls, Stoke-Nayland found themselves stuck in mud through the middle parts of the innings.

It would take six overs following the wickets for Stoke-Nayland to score another boundary as the pressure started mounting.

“It’s that old cricket adage that’s been around forever, runs on the board creates the pressure,” says ACOB captain Ollie Jones-Allen.

“The boys were really fired up. It was more or less a semi-final game, a must-win.

“For us, it’s been a pretty lean season, so to be able to make a final is awesome.”

Ollie says it’s “massively important” to win the toss in the evening games, and the first time he’s won this season in the competition.

With Wolves already booking their spot in the final, he’s excited to have another crack at the team, having “narrowly lost to them in the round robin”.

Stoke-Nayland captain Dylan Eginton says having to bat into the setting sun did cost them runs, but he didn’t want to make excuses.

“They were too good.

“They pegged it back nicely with smart fields and bowled well.”

Dylan says they had capitalised well with the field up in the powerplay but weren’t able to follow on.

“In club cricket, 180 is a pretty good score and not many teams are going to chase that down.”