FRENCHAY Cricket Club’s Twenty20 side are celebrating winning the Bristol Midweek League’s Ray Taylor Memorial Cup.
Captain Will Ferguson hit the winning runs to complete an exciting one wicket win over Hanham after a middle-order collapse in the final at Collegiate School on August 10.
Set a target of 142 to win, Frenchay were cruising at 122-4, with Joe Moss top-scoring on 47 and Risabh Singh hitting 39 off 28 balls, only to suddenly find themselves battling at 133-9.
Ferguson and 15-year-old Charlie Simes put on the vital nine required runs to seal victory with seven balls to spare.
Hanham, who won the toss, recovered from losing both openers early on to Chare Smith (3-23) thanks mainly to captain James Davis (59) and Ross Robbins (32). Tyrone Isitt bagged 3-14 as Hanham made 141-8.
Will said: “It was quite an eventful game.
“Our batting got off to a sluggish start, losing early wickets.
“Rishabh played a really crucial role, hitting three fours and two sixes.
“We looked out of sight but lost a lot of wickets again, and it was down to Charlie and me to put on the last few runs and get us over the line.
“We won three games to get to the final, all against clubs a league above us – it was quite an underdog story to get there.”
The semi-final had ended with a bowl-off against Knowle after the match finished tied.
Will said: “For the final I picked the same core players who had played in the midweek side all season – I didn’t want to pick players out of the blue.
“For some of us, the last time we played in a final was against Hanham in under-11’s and some of the same players from both sides featured in the game.”
The club thanked shirt sponsor Mark Evans Electrical for the company’s support to the team.
Sponsor Mark Evans and captain Will Ferguson
Steve Hill