Saints crowned T20 champions for Northamptonshire

Experience proved to be Northampton Saints’ trump card as they captured the NCL Twenty20 Cup for the second time in three years at the County Ground yesterday.

After disposing of the holders Old Northamptonians in the semis, Saints held their nerve to beat Finedon by six runs – successfully defending a total of 147-9 built around half-centuries from Chris Park and man-of-the-match Brent Findlay.

Finedon – who conjured up their own version of The Great Escape against Weekley and Warkton earlier in the day – looked dead-and-buried at 62-6 in reply.

But teenager Primesh Patel smashed an unbeaten 52 off just 31 balls as they fell tantalisingly short on 141-9.

“I think experience was crucial on the day, especially in the bowling department,” said skipper Alec Swann after lifting the Hevey Building Supplies-sponsored trophy.

“We saw that with the way Finedon beat Weekley in the semis. They didn’t score anything like enough runs, but had people with a bit of nous who could do the job with the ball.”

“And we have the likes of Richard Stemp, Neil Stanley and Michael Davies who’ve obviously played plenty of cricket between them. That made a massive difference.”

Saints fell short of expectations batting first in the final, slumping from 117-1 – Park and New Zealander Findlay notching 52 apiece - as eight wickets tumbled in the space of just six overs.

Finedon skipper Chris Goode bagged 4-24 while Northamptonshire Academy youngsters Jack Chopping and Tom Brett also kept it tight.

But the reigning Premier Division champions – and last year’s runners-up in the Twenty20 – suffered a disastrous top-order collapse, and it took a 54-run stand between Patel and Chris Todd to keep the match alive.

Findlay’s penultimate over went for 17 and Finedon suddenly fancied their chances again. But 15 from the final over, bowled by the canny Stanley, proved beyond reach.

The first semi saw Swann (56) and Park (39) lead the way to 151-5 against ONs, who could only manage 133-9 despite David Willey’s classy 47 from 38 deliveries.

And Weekley will wonder for a very long time how they missed out on a place in the final after apparently having Finedon at their mercy.

Sam Outram’s superb spell of 2-10 from four overs kept the Dolben down to 108-8, and the Division One outfit were cruising at 73-2 with six overs remaining.

But the departure of Ricky Joseph (33) turned the match on its head and Weekley stumbled to 93-6 when the overs ran out – Goode (3-18) again the pick of the bowlers.

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