Fleetwood were victorious in the 2012 TWP Wealth Twenty/20 Cup after they emerged as winners of the finals day held at their Broadwater ground on Sunday 29th July.
Poor weather forced the original finals day to be postponed by a week after heavy rain left the ground unplayable. An army of volunteer ground staff ensured that the rearranged day
went ahead on the Fylde coast in front of a hardy crowd in chilly, blustery conditions.
First Semi Final - Fleetwood v Leyland
Leyland captain David Makinson elected to bowl first having won the toss against Mat Clark's Fleetwood in the first semi-final. Adam Parker and Naveed Yousaf made a steady start for the home side before Dale
Jones picked up Parker and quickly followed up with the wicket of Dean Bell for a duck.
On a wicket that was understandably slow given the weather that had prevailed in the run up to the finals day, Yousaf and professional Shaun Liebisch patiently accumulated runs aware that keeping wickets
in hand for a late onslaught was the order of the day.
Yousaf made 20 before he was deceived by David Fisher's off spin. Liebisch and crowd favourite Mark Wilkinson then shared a match winning partnership of 61. Both players played with intelligence, choosing to hit with the wind
and target a slightly shorter boundary on the Fleetwood Road side of the ground.
Wilkinson made 27 before he was clean bowled by a Brett Pelser slower ball and Chris Stanhope was stumped by stand in wicketkeeper Chris Parkinson off the last ball of the innings.
Liebisch remained unbeaten on 57, made from just 43 balls with 0ne four and three sixes, as the Fleetwood innings closed on 135 for 5, Dale Jones the standout bowler for Leyland with 2 for 12 from 4 overs.
Leyland promoted Andrew Makinson to open the batting with Henry Thompson in an effort to provide some early momentum to the innings. Clever tactician Clark countered this by giving off spinner
Yousaf the new ball and the former Norcross man repaid his captain's faith with the key wicket of Thompson for 2. Makinson fell soon after to Parker as Fleetwood rotated their bowlers with regularity.
Leyland's professional Pelser looked in determined mood and he shared a good partnership with Danny Lamb before Stanhope bowled the youngster for 22. With Pelser looking to increase the run rate he struck Sam Bell
for a huge six onto the squash courts, but Bell had his revenge next ball as he bowled Pelser for 47 (42 balls, 5 fours, 1 six).
Bell also accounted for Fisher and Karl Cross as Leyland fell further behind the required rate. Jones and James Rounding offered some hope for the visitors with some lusty late hitting, but with 14 needed for victory from the last over, Liebisch held his nerve by varying his pace well as Leyland closed on 128 for 6, to give Fleetwood victory by 7 runs.
Second Semi Final - Lancaster v Netherfield
Netherfield entered the second semi-final as strong favourites against a young Lancaster side that had won through the North 2 group on run rate ahead of Morecambe.
On winning the toss Lancaster captain Ben Simm chose to bowl first. It quickly became apparent that Simm had an ideal attack for the slow paced wicket at his disposal. Liam Moffat struck an early body blow to Netherfield when he had South African professional Cobus Pienaar caught behind in the first over for 4.
The Cumberland trio of Marc Brown, Chris Williams and John Huck struggled to come to terms with the Lancaster bowlers’ crafty changes of pace as the Netherfield run rate stagnated in the middle of the innings. Both Brown and Huck fell to superb catches in the deep by Alex Metcalfe off the bowling of Simm as they tried to play big shots.
Simm was at his best as he ran through the Netherfield middle order to finish with 5 for 14 from 4 overs. The Lancaster fielding was of a high standard as they aggressively cut down the chance of singles being taken inside the 30 yard fielding circle.
Netherfield were perhaps guilty of setting their sights too high as a number of batsmen perished trying to clear the boundary. In the end they limped to 83 for 8 from 20 overs, Huck top scoring with 27.
Buoyed by their fine display in the field Lancaster began positively with openers Jamie Heywood and 20/20 specialist Luke Philips utilising the six over fielding restrictions with some selective hitting.
Netherfield captain John Mason rotated his bowlers in an attempt to restrict Lancaster, but despite losing Philips run out and Heywood to a sharp catch off the bowling of Stuart Nixon, the Cumbrian side could not peg back the run rate. Lancaster’s Zimbabwean professional Timycen Maruma played with positive intent to guide his side to a 7 wicket upset with more than 6 overs remaining.
Ultimately Netherfield were left to rue a poor batting display and their lack of a front line slow bowler which only served to highlight the similarity of their predominantly right arm medium pace attack.
Final - Fleetwood v Lancaster
The TWP Wealth Twenty/20 Cup final began at 5pm in front of a swelled crowd to the accompaniment of the sort of popular music that has become de rigueur at these events.
In weak early evening sunshine Ben Simm won the toss and chose to bowl first, sticking to the plan that had served his side so well in the semi-final. By now the lack of pace in the wicket was no secret, so Fleetwood's experienced openers Adam Parker and Naveed Yousaf adjusted their target score accordingly and began in a patient manner.
Batting with plenty of common sense the pair rotated the strike effectively with clever deflections and ran well between the wickets. Only when they had grown in confidence did either player look to take the aerial option, Parker in particular striking the ball cleanly. A mix up brought the partnership of 81 to an end when Yousaf was run out for 33.
This breakthrough allowed Lancaster to assert more control as only Adam Sharrocks of the remaining batsmen could pass double figures. Lancaster's fielding was again outstanding and accounted for two more run outs.
Professional Maruma was the pick of the Lancaster bowlers with 3 for 18 including his opposite number Liebisch. Parker was eventually trapped lbw by Alex Metcalfe for 46 from 43 balls as Fleetwood were dismissed for 130 in 19.1 overs.
In the hope of getting their innings off to a fast start, Lancaster promoted Maruma to open the innings with Jamie Heywood. Unfortunately they were unable to take advantage of the fielding restrictions as Sam Bell produced a sensational display of accurate bowling. Finding little bounce from a tight off stump line Bell dismissed Heywood and Luke Phillips on his way to figures of 4-2-5-2 as the Lancaster batsman could not find a way to score off him. Parker continued his fine day when he had Maruma caught behind for 18 and then picked up Kieran Moffat, superbly stumped by wicketkeeper Lee Jones.
Samuel Moorby and Scott Sparks attempted to bring Lancaster back into the game with some inventive stroke play, but when Moorby was run out for 30 and Sparks followed soon after for 27, their side was left with too much to do. Yousaf returned to the attack to claim three wickets as Fleetwood ran out winners by 25 runs.
Delighted skipper Mat Clark lifted the TWP Wealth Twenty/20 Cup in front of an ecstatic home crowd and his side celebrated a well-earned victory.
Fleetwood's Adam Parker receiving the TWP Twenty/20 Man of the Match award from Brian Standing |
Photos courtesy of Ann Gilfoyle
