BARNT GREEN CC suffered an agonising 10-run defeat as the club fell just short in their quest to win a first national title.
Green were playing in the Vitality Club T20 Cup National Final having won the Birmingham League title before then coming through a regional semi-final and final.
However, Green suffered a 10-run defeat to Hornchurch in the national final at Wormsley Cricket Club as the Bromsgrove club ran out of overs in pursuit of 161.
Hornchurch won the toss and elected to bat as opener George Hankins (84) did the majority of the damage in a fine 63-ball knock.
Hankins provided the glue to Hornchurch’s innings after Green made a strong start that saw them restrict their opponents to 36-3.
However, a 75-run fourth-wicket partnership helped boost Hornchurch’s total with Billy Gordon (23) and Adeel Malik (31), the latter scoring his runs off just 13 balls, the only other batters to reach double figures.
Green’s Jacques Banton (3-16) was the pick of the attack whilst Andrew Sutton (1-30) and Adam Hines (1-37) both claimed a wicket apiece with run-out’s accounting for three Hornchurch wickets who finished on 161-8.
And Green made a strong start in reply as opener Rheedyi Amin (53) and Ben Chapman-Lilley (56) helped the Bromsgrove side reach 96-2 after Banton (5) was trapped LBW.
However, by the time Amin fell to the bowling of Hankins (1-32), Green had just under six overs to score 66 runs.
Further contributions from Amrinder Brar (18) and captain Dom Harding (10) took Green closer to the total after Chapman-Lilley was stumped off the bowling of Malik (2-29).
And Green required a mammoth 20 runs from the final over to claim victory with Dan Meredith and Robbie Shurmer (both four not out) only able to score nine from the last six balls in which Brar was run out.
Despite the defeat, Green can look back on a fantastic season that saw them reach their third national final and finish second in the Birmingham and District Premier League Division One table.
