European Cricket League: Northern beaten in nailbiting final after controversial day
Northern 109/3 (7.5) beat Austrian Cricket Tigers 104/8 (10) by seven wickets
Hornchurch 161/4 (9.5) beat Northern 156/3 (10) by six wickets
A dramatic and contentious day ended in agonising defeat for Northern in the Group B final at the European Cricket League.
Defending champions Hornchurch got the better of Chris Laker’s side thanks to an all-round display from Mohammad Irfan, who smacked 79 off 26 balls to break the back of a chase of 157.
After nine sixes, he fell in the ninth over and Northern had the briefest glimmer of hope; it was extinguished as the rain in Spain brought nothing but pain, and Adeel Malik smacked Josh Thompson over mid-wicket to win the game with a ball to spare.
In truth, a second miracle recovery would have been an order nearly as tall as Irfan’s 6ft 6in frame.
His two overs in Northern’s batting power play had yielded just two runs – critical in a T20, worse in a T10.
Liam Grey and Alex Vincent dragged their side off the mat, each hitting seven sixes in their knocks of 51.
Former Ormskirk and Lancashire seamer Gavin Griffiths went for 33 off his one over; ex-Essex man Mervyn Westfield leaked 55 from his two.
Stephen Lucas joined in the fun at the end and 156/3 seemed just about par on the board; it was unthinkable given the opening exchanges.
Laker’s face when he persuaded George Hankins to hit one down Grey’s throat in the second over of the reply proved Northern were up for it – trouble was, so was Irfan, and he gets higher up than most.
The players’ blood was already pumping after a controversial encounter earlier in the day, which ended after just seven balls.
Hornchurch skipper Harry Hankins twice fell over in his delivery stride and was convinced the artificial pitch was unplayable.
Yesterday had been a near-washout, but one game had already been played earlier today on the same track, with none of the bowlers from Austrian Cricket Tigers or Al Fatah coming to grief.
After discussion, the match officials agreed to call the game off. As group winners, Hornchurch progressed to the final without their injured club captain, while Northern – still without theirs, James Cole – had to enter a last-chance shootout against the Tigers.
Alex Vincent’s 49 off 15 balls ensured they chased 105 with plenty to spare – redemption for yesterday, when they fell short of a similar total against Al Fatah.
In the end, there was to be no catharsis after what some saw as an unjust ending to the Crosby side’s first encounter with the men from Essex.
But as the Love Lane Liverpool Competition’s first ever representatives at the competition, they left Malaga with their heads held high.
