T20 FINALS - HOW DID WE GET HERE?

The Totty Saints have reached finals day in the GMCL T20 Plate competition for the first time, so we thought it worth taking a look at the qualifying campaign and the progress our side has made throughout the past six weeks.

In the midst of a generally poor June overall, the Saints kicked off their T20 run in the worst possible way, with a heavy 80 run defeat at Bolton Indians. While accepting that one or two lads felt themselves on the wrong end of some decisions, and with the team notably missing its pro and several senior players, a total of 47 all out just didn't cut it.

The road trip continued with a visit to Unsworth, and this time the batting line up held firm, totalling 136-3 in the allotted 20 overs. With Mike Burns carrying his bat for 61 from 64 balls, and an aggressive 35 off 21 balls from Kaleb, this looked defendable. However Unsworth went off like a rocket, pro Dogar smashing 7 sixes on his way to 94 from just 52 balls, and the target was reached in just 16 overs. At this point we looked to be heading for an early exit from the competition.

Things started to turn around with a remarkable victory back on home soil against Radcliffe. A poor start with the ball saw the visitors fly to 75-0 in quick time, but a flurry of wickets from Oscar, Luke and Kaleb brought the innings back in check; the final total of 153 all out saw almost two overs wasted at the back end, could that prove crucial? As it turned out, the next 20 minutes brought some of the most remarkable hitting seen at the Meadows in a long time - Burns and Kaleb went absolutely berserk, launching the opening four Radcliffe overs for a ridiculous 88 runs, and that was seemingly game over! Kaleb departed for 37 from 11, and Burns for 58 from 23, and of course it wouldn't be Totty without some sort of middle order collapse. Despite losing five quick wickets, we cruised home in just 11.3 overs, with John Kenyon hitting a 6 and 4 to bring up victory.

With momentum building around the club by the end of June, a new wave of optimism gripped the side, and this momentum carried into a remarkable game with Unsworth. Having dismissed Dogar early on, hopes of keeping the visitors in check were high, but this time Hanif based 70 from 34 balls to lead his side to a very healthy 187-7. With Kaleb and Burns this time both falling before the score reached 50, things were looking dicey. Useful contributions from Harvey (32) and Nathan (30) were topped off with a hard hitting 43 off 23 from John Kenyon; despite losing Nathan to the penultimate ball of the innings with scores level, a scrambled bye saw the lads home to a scintillating victory. Remarkably, a total of 20 sixes were recorded during the game!

The Saints were now confident in all departments, and the final two games of the qualifying round saw the bowling come to the fore. Firstly, Radcliffe were shot out for just 43, with Kaleb, Jack Schoey, Ste Brooks and Callum sharing the spoils. In return, Totts were never in trouble, cruising to a 9 wicket win despite Nathan ONCE AGAIN getting out with scores level! It was nice to see former player Awais on the opposition, turning out in his 420th game of the season.

The final game brought much needed revenge against Bolton Indians, who had thoroughly outplayed us in the first match. This time, the visitors were no match for a powerful bowling performance from Burns in particular, who enjoyed a return of 5-8 from his four overs. A target of 63 was never going to trouble the Saints, and indeed a crushing victory was delivered in just 5.4 overs, thanks once again to the powerful strokeplay of Kaleb, Burns and the big man himself, Nathan. The latter remarkably managed *not* to get himself out and plundered fourteen runs off in an over to bring the scores level before a wide settled the contest.

After a really poor start to the competition, the final result was somewhat remarkable, Totty topping the group and of course leading on net run rate thanks to some explosive batting performances. Burns and Kaleb scored the 2nd and 3rd most runs in the group, with Kaleb's strike rate of 187.67 leading the way. Jack Schofield was also joint top of the wicket takers through the group stage, his 9 wickets in 16 overs an excellent return. Notably, Mike Burns took the only 5 wicket haul of the qualification round.

Which all neatly brings us to Sunday August 2nd and finals day. Our boys have been handed a semi-final encounter with Woodley Wildcats, who actually came runners up in their group despite equalling our 4 wins from 6. With excellent weather forecast, and plenty of entertainment on hand, it should be a great day. The action kicks off at 10am. Good luck lads!