Liam Naylor’s unbeaten 58 in Sunday’s final set the Eastern Knights on their way to clinching this year T20 Blitz after a re-arranged format following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
Earlier on Saturday at New Cambusdoon, the Knights had won their first match by 4 wickets versus the Western Warriors after a tight finish. Warriors started the tournament with the bat and after a 46 from English, 41 from McMullen and 23 from Ahmad they set the Knights a target of 178.
Munsey opened for the Knights with an impressive 63 in 41 balls but it was McCreath (48) and Dickinson (7) that saw them over the line with 2 balls left. McMullen and Henry each took 2 wickets.
In the 2nd match, the Warriors once again opened the batting versus the Caledonian Highlanders with Cross in sparkling form hitting 81 before being caught by Greaves off Mackay-Champion. Macleod contributed 45 and Berrington 32 taking the Warriors to 192 in the 20 overs. Greaves looked sharp taking 4 for 27.
In reply, Johnston made 54 with Greaves contributing 24, however the Highlanders were always behind the run rate and were eventually bowled out for 124 in the 18th over. Main produced an outstanding 5 wickets for 15 runs.
The 2nd day moved to Titwood in Glasgow and in the morning match, the Highlanders knew they needed a big score to have a chance of reaching the final, however it was the Knights that struck early when Wallace was dismissed for 2 in the first over. The Highlanders recovered with a decent team effort and after contributions from Bester (41), Johnston (28), Greaves (28) and Leask (22) they reached 160. Dickinson, Jarvis and Evans each took 2 wickets.
Munsey and Crawley led the chase and looked strong reaching 33 in the 4th over before Munsey was dismissed by Neil on 18. Crawley and Jarvis each made 22 and McCreath 21, however they eventually fell 19 runs short. Davidson and Scott took 2 wickets each and Greaves limited the Knights to only 18 runs off his 4 overs.
With each side winning one match, the final came down to net run rate and it was the Knights and Warriors that moved on to the final.
The Knights started the final very aggressively with Munsey hitting 10 off the first over and although he was dismissed off only 15 in the 3rd over, Naylor’s 58 and Crawley’s 31 took them to a solid 147 in their 20 overs. Flack was the pick of the bowlers taking 3 for 23.
Evans for the Knights struck early in the 2nd over with the crucial wicket of Cross (2) and when Macleod was dismissed by McCreath on 17 and McBride by Jarvis (21), the Knights looked in control. Dickinson produced a match winning 4 for only 13 runs and helped restrict the Warriors to 119 all out in the final over.
Congratulations to the Easter Knights for winning the T20 Blitz.
