Settled at third time of asking
Julian Cup final: Boyne Hill get their hands on Julian Cup for the first time since 1996 after beating Slough in final over
At the third time of asking, this summer’s Julian Cup final was finally settled on bank holiday Monday, with Boyne Hill winning a tense but enthralling game against Slough in the final over.
After the first meeting between the sides back in July finished in an unprecedented tie, and the replay was abandoned after heavy rain a week later, the players returned to Boyne Hill Cricket Club to finally settle the score.
Surprisingly, given the free-scoring nature of both sides in the league this season – and the thrilling first contest between the two – this was a relatively low scoring final, and it was the Thames Valley side Boyne Hill who claimed victory over their Home Counties league rivals.
This was also the first time Boyne Hill had lifted the trophy since 1996, and they managed it with just three balls to spare.
Organisers hadn't had a lot of luck with this year’s competition, but conditions were set reasonably fair for Monday’s game and Boyne Hill elected to have a bowl on winning the toss.
Prashant Kumar – who would have a major say in turning the game in Hill’s favour – struck in the first over with Sam Hayes taking a good catch on the long off boundary.
Sajid Ali then made a direct hit to run out another of Slough’s batsmen and this left them struggling on 10-2. Slough’s league captain this season, Nadeem Syed (21) and Mohammed Avas (26) steadied the ship and rebuilt the innings with some fine shots, but Slough’s serene progress was rocked by a flurry of wickets, and a collapse from 67-3 to 99-8. The medium pace of Nabeel Janed (4-16) and Rohan Agrawal (2-19) proved particularly effective during this spell.
A well-constructed 23 from Hamza Arif rescued the innings and moved them onto 122.
Kumar claimed another couple of victims and was the pick of Hill’s bowlers, taking 3-16
from his four overs.
Hill also fielded superbly, led by captain Simon Carter behind the stumps, and relinquished hardly any cheap runs.
Slough also fielded and bowled very well, and Hill started their reply poorly, losing Hamid Riaz in the first over. Sam Hayes (17) batted steadily through the first half of the innings to get Hill back in the hunt, while Imran Butt (22) fired off some big shots before both were dismissed in successive overs, as Slough’s spinners Yash Lakhani (1-14) and Ali Akbar (1-18) put a squeeze on the run rate. At 63-4 the game was very much in the balance but a sensible partnership with good running between the wickets from Kumar
(22 retired) and Ali (27 retired) added a very useful 49 to take Boyne Hill to the brink of victory.
However, both had to retire after their 10 overs under Julian Cup rules, and with two new batsmen coming to the crease, Slough sniffed a chance to steal victory from the jaws of defeat. Ultimately it came down to five runs needed from the last over and Carter hit the third ball over the offside for four to finish the game.
Man-of-the-match adjudicator, Graham Roberts, gave the award to Sajid Ali for his fine innings of 27 and direct runout narrowly ahead of Kumar whilst commending both sides fielding and the fine spirit that all three games had been played in.
In the first of those matches, the teams played out a historic tie, with Slough bowled out for 165 chasing Boyne Hill’s 165-7. In that game Slough required 10 runs to win off the final over and needed just two off the final ball to clinch victory before falling just short.
The second game the following Wednesday was abandoned after heavy rain during a summer heatwave. Only 13 overs were managed with Slough on 107-5 when the heavens opened and flooded the Boyne Hill outfield with excess water.