Portsmouth C.C. Crowned Under-19 NatWest T20 Blast Victors

Portsmouth CC are the first club to etch their name onto the NatWest U19 winner’s trophy. Portsmouth’s campaign began in early July against Trojans with a victory but it was not all plain sailing with two defeats in the group stages. They were the eventual winners of their group (via a tie-breaker) despite Ropley Raiders and Grayshott Ghosts all being on even points. The Ghosts also advanced into the finals as highest placed runners up. Basingstoke and North Hants CC advanced into the finals due to availability issues with other clubs in their group whilst OT’s and Romsey were the fourth finalist having won all six of their group games.

The format replicated their contemporaries in the professional game and two semi-finals took place before a grand final took place later in the day. During the first semi, OT’s won the toss and inserted Portsmouth into bat. Due to a 10am start, the pitch was a little damp and with the outfield not having shed overnight dew, there was a genuine balance with the potential for early opportunities with the new cherry versus OT’s gamble to bowl with a wet ball.

An early wicket came in the 7th ball of the match when Welch removed Farrant, playing over the top of an over-pitched but accurate delivery, bowling him and sending him back early. However as the innings went on the gamble to bowl with a wet ball and a few fielding errors started to creep in allowing Portsmouth to build a competitive score of 139 with a fine knock of 50 retired from skipper Jack Marston plus several other hard hitting and innovative cameos.

In reply OT’s and Romsey had 8 after the first 5 balls with a clean shot executed by skipper Pete Newman over deep mid-wicket. However on the 6th ball, an early blow was struck after an equally clean strike was achieved but with a much lower trajectory to the waiting fielder at mid-off who took an assured catch. And that was the general pattern of the fixture with OT’s losing wickets and key players at regular intervals, eventually dismissing OT’s and Romsey for 75.

In the second semi. Basingstoke, a late but equally deserving entrant into finals day were faced with the prospect of taking on Grayshott Ghosts. Skipper Joe Oates from Basingstoke won the toss and inserted Grayshott into bat. Initially, Grayshott placed Basingstoke under some early pressure, with two of the top three batters owning a strike rate well in excess of a 100! However, tidy bowling soon stemmed the flow of runs after the power play and a trend of wickets falling in clumps at crucial times reduced Grayshott to 93 all out with Deadman and Fincken both taking 3 wickets each from their allotted overs.

Basingstoke, took a cautious approach to the chase and this was paying off as Harsham and Coombs delivered a partnership of 32 between them before Harsham was bowled by Oosthuizen. Skipper Oates came in at number three and with a cool head acted as the glue for the innings taking advantage of a combination of full tosses and extras which were clinically dispatched by both he and later Matthew Deadman. Grayshott kept themselves in the game a long time with many accurate deliveries but when they strayed each one of those deliveries had a heavy cost associated to them.

For the final, Portsmouth threw the coin up in the air and after Oates called incorrectly, Marston had no hesitation in putting his charges into bat. For Henry Farrnat, his innings was the polar opposite to his semi-final performance and after 8 overs he was returning back to the pavilion raising his bat after a belligerent 50. Portsmouth had the measure of both batting and bowling on these pitches and at one stage were maintaining a steady 10 an over run rate from ball one up until the 12th. Basingstoke will rue some early opportunities that they had to make a considerable impact to the wickets tally (dropping Farrant twice) but they did well in the final quarter of the game to restrict the batting side to six over to leave them with 181 runs required for victory.

Oates, promoted himself into the opening pair and Basingstoke embarked on what was to be a trial and execution by spin! Oates was to be stranded while at the other end, Andy Martson, Portsmouth’s premier spinner, delivered a decisive spell in the space of four balls claiming FOUR wickets! After 10 overs, Basingstoke were 53-6 and the task was to be a bridge too far for the men from North Hampshire. Oates did remarkably well to both support the other batters and sheppard the strike as he passed his half century as “last man standing” but it was all in vain. It was a forgone conclusion and the south coasters cruised to victory and created history at the same time.

During the course of the finals day, OT’s and Romsey CC were superb hosts and provided players with complimentary food and had an array of other catering treats and entertainment on offer to the public and local supporters. The club made every effort to get the game on during some early, inclement weather and thanks go out to the managers and coaches for each team. Hampshire Cricket Board would like to thank each and every player, not only involved at the finals day but also all the other teams of players in the groups who made this competition so special. This competition offered younger cricketers the opportunity to not only play more but also more with their friends and in fact it brought quite a few lapsed players back into the game. Hampshire Cricket Boards objective was to provide more opportunities for this age group to enjoy and play the game. This was apparent and also there was a healthy competitive edge and a the standard of skills and innovation was there for all to see and for the younger generation to aspire to.

Image: LMI Photography