Quatt Smash their way to glory
Quatt claimed what they hope will be the first part of a winning double by landing the Swancote Energy Smash.
The Shropshire County League title chasers came out on top in the finals day of the 100-ball summer-long competition organised by Worfield CC.
They saw off Birmingham League outfit Shifnal in the semi-final before beating Staffs County League side Wombourne by one run in the final.
The last-four clash with Shifnal saw Quatt under early pressure as Xavie Clarke (41 off 19 balls) cut loose.
But Clarke fell to skipper Craig Jones, stumped off a wide, and Quatt then kept them down to 120-6.
Openers Chris Miller (45) and Dan Plank (38) set Quatt on the way to an eight-wicket success that was achieved with five balls to spare.
Wombourne had booked their place in the final with a comfortable triumph over Claverley.
Claverley were restricted to 119-7 with Wombourne then easing home for the loss of two wickets and with 25 balls in hand.
Miller was in form with the bat for Quatt in the final, notching a half-century to help his side to 137-9.
An impressive fielding display backed up the Quatt bowlers as they held their nerve to clinch victory as Wombourne fell a run short with nine wickets down.
“It’s the first time we have entered the competition and it’s been really enjoyable,” said Quatt skipper Jones. “Playing competitive midweek cricket throughout the season in this competition has been better than training.
“I thought we were possibly 10 or 15 runs short in the final. But we bowled and fielded really well.
“They dropped a couple of chances in the field and when you lose by just one run they can prove costly.
“They needed 12 off the last five balls but Ryan Wheldon kept his cool and bowled a couple of dots. It was then eight off two and they had a bit of a mix up and didn’t take a run off the penultimate delivery. They actually hit the last ball for six but it obviously didn’t matter.”
We had played really well against Shifnal.
The game started early and the wicket was a touch tacky at the start.
We managed to get Xavier Clarke out, stumped off a wide, which was a bonus because he looked in really good form.
