The Premier Men and Scrapheap Men have tipped up the Sydenham Premiers and Seconds respectively to claim both the Premier T20 trophy and the Championship T20 trophy.
Facing the Sydenham Premiers at Elmwood Park, Old Boys Collegians produced the Rolls Royce of club sides, boasting Blackcap Todd Astle and Canterbury players Matt Boyle, Cam Fletcher, Angus Mckenzie, and Edward Nuttall (plus former First Class cricketer Jeff Case).
Captain Jack Lewis won the toss and opted to bowl, with 4 professional bowlers at his disposal. Boyle and Nuttall opened up, with the latter taking a wicket with the 6th ball of his first over, removing the dangerous Chad Bowes for 8. He was quickly backed up by Angus Mckenzie, who claimed Bevon John Jacobs for 15. The next over, Nuttall took his second to leave Sydenham at 25/3 after 3.1.
From there, the spin twins, Astle and Mehra tied up the middle overs and produced another two wickets. Mckenzie was brought back in the 14th over with the score at 91/5, and from there, OBC took a wicket every over until Sydenham were all out for 101 after 17.3.
OBC got off to a rather shaky start, with Taylor and Boyle getting out early. With the score at 17/2 after 3 overs, Nic Clark and Jeff Case counter-punched, taking the team to 67 before Nic Clark was dismissed for 49. Jack Lewis joined Jeff Case at the crease and played an innings in his typical fashion, bludgeoning 26 off 14 balls, including two sixes in the 14th over to finish the game and take the win for OBC.
The Scrapheap faced Sydenham Seconds at Sydenham Park, with Old Boys having 6 regular premier players dropping down to make way for the returning professionals a grade above.
Sydenham won the toss and elected to bowl and sent Scott Willoughby and Conor Ansell in to face the music. Ansell and Willoughby added 79 for the first wicket in quick time, with Conor’s innings being a highlight, featuring 5 sixes and finishing with 41 off just 14 balls.
Captain Willoughby finished with 38 off 20 but the middle order struggled to keep up with the blistering pace the opening duo set. Ashan Wanasighne steadied the ship with a mature 20 off 24 and Callum Curnow played a cameo at number 10, hitting 18 off 14 including a six over the Sydenham pavilion and into the bowls club.
Arguably a stronger bowling side, The Scrapheap didn’t disappoint – with prems regulars Curnow, Cox and Fairbairn taking 5 wickets between them. Ammar Vithodawala bowled well, and could have had more wickets in his spell of 1-23 off 4 if not for better luck.
Ashan Wanasinghe brought energy and electricty to the crease and was on his way to get a few wickets of his own before captain Scott elected to replace him, getting two cheap wickets at the end to leave Sydenham at 115/8 after 20, with Old Boys winning by 39 runs.
