Bradninch are into the final of the Vitality Club T20 Cup Area Five final where the opponents will either be Cornish side St Just or Welsh outfit Newport.
A 36-ball half century from Tim Piper and a 37-ball 46 from skipper Gary Chappell – the openers put on 95 in just 54 balls – and then an unbeaten 23 from 19 balls by Mitch Pugh – Dan Hardy was the other not out batsman on four from the one ball he faced – saw Bradninch to a whopping eight wicket win over Bristol; and this with some 28 balls not delivered in the T20 contest!
The slick run chase followed the earlier, Bristol 143 all out with Josh Farley claiming a ‘fiverfer’ as Bradninch enjoyed a wonderful morning in the Bridgwater sunshine.
Here then, is the ‘tale of the tape’ over by over, starting with the Bristol innings after they were invited to bat first when Bradninch skipper Gary Chappell won the toss…………
BRISTOL batting
Over 1 bowled by Chad Classen, goes for just three singles. SCORE 3-0
Over 2 bowled by Ross Acton, a four off the first followed by a one and a wide, but, that wide means a seventh delivery and, from it, Bristol opener Harry Arthur is ‘run out’ for a six-ball two and Bristol are 11-1. SCORE 11-1
Over 3 bowled by Classen, goes for four singles and a four. SCORE 19-1
Over 4 bowled by Acton from which there are four byes, a leg bye and five runs. SCORE 29-1
Over 5 bowled by Classen; a two, a dot ball, three successive singles then an Ankit Badwal catch to see the back of Miles Kantolinna for a seven-ball eight. SCORE 34-2
Over 6 bowled by Acton yields a four, a one and a leg bye. SCORE 40-2
Over 7 bowled by Mitch Pugh two singles, two twos, a dot ball and a four. SCORE 50-2
Over 8 bowled by Acton sees three successive dot balls, then a one, another dot and a four to finish. SCORE 55-2.
Over 9 bowled by Charlie Sheen yields successive singles, back-to-back sixes and successive singles. SCORE 71-2
Over 10 bowled by Gary Chappell sees a two, a four and four successive singles. It’s halfway in the Bristol innings. SCORE 81-2
Over 11 bowled by Mitch Pugh brings a dot ball, three successive singles, another dot ball and a single to finish – TOP OVER, just four runs from it. SCORE 85-2.
Over 12 bowled by Chappell begins with a wide, then successive singles, a four followed by a single, another four and finally a single. SCORE 98-2.
Over 13 bowled by Pugh yields a dot, a six, three successive singles and a four to finish – the four sees Bristol opener Nic Halstead-Cleak to a 38-ball half century. SCORE 111-2.
Over 14 bowled by Classen sees just five singles and a leg bye. SCORE 117-2.
Over 15 bowled by Josh Farley sees two singles and a six then WICKET – with opener Nic Halstead Cleak caught by Chad Classen and out for a 44-ball 61. Then a single and a wide before WICKET – Jack Ellison bowled for a golden duck. SCORE 127-4.
Over 16 bowled by Chappell yields a one, a dot then WICKET – Rishi Panchal trapped leg before for a second ball duck. Then a leg bye, a four (Bristol skipper Louie Shaw reaches a 33-ball half century) and a dot ball. SCORE 133-5.
Over 17 bowled by Farley begins with a WICKET – William Rudge bowled for a second ball duck. Then it’s successive ones, a dot ball, a leg bye and a single to finish. SCORE 137-6.
Over 18 bowled by Chappell yields three successive singles then WICKET – Shamod Athulathmudali bowled by Gary Chappell for a five-ball two. SCORE 142-7.
Over 19 bowled by Farley begins with WICKET – Bristol skipper Shaw caught behind by Tim Piper for a 41-ball 56. Then a single before another WICKET – Tommy Probert clean bowled for a two ball one. Three dot balls end the over and, as the last over begins Bristol are 143-9. SCORE 143-9.
Over 20 bowled by Pugh and, off the very first delivery Sam Brewer is run out by the bowler and Bristol fail to see out their 20 overs, closing on 143 all out from 19.1 overs.
Josh Farley was the star of the bowling show, claiming a superb ‘fivefer’ to finish with figures of 5-14 from three overs with his economy being 4.67.
The other figures were; skipper Gary Chappell, (2-33 from four with an economy of 8.25), Chad Classen (1-24 from four with an economy of 5.25); Ross Acton (0-23 from four with an economy of 5.75); Gary Chappell (2-33 from four with an economy of 8.25), Mitch Pugh (0-27 from 3.1 overs with an economy of 8.53) and the other bowled was sent down by Charlie Sheen (0-16).
BRADNINCH BATTING
Skipper Gary Chappell scored a single off the very delivery and then a brace of fours from Tim Piper helped the openers score 11 runs off the first over.
Piper then launched the ball over the ropes in the second over and, aided by five wides and a single, Ninch were 23-0 after two.
Over three yielded 14 runs with Chappell hitting a four and then a six and, after three overs, the run chase was bedding in beautifully on 37 without loss.
Over four began with back-to-back Piper fours and ended with a single to leave the reply on 46-0.
Such was the confident start the openers made that they could afford to play out the fifth over as a maiden – a rare event in the opening stages of a T20 innings – with Tim Piper playing back five deliveries from first change Miles Kantolinna.
Over six saw Piper spank another six and a four as 11 more runs came to leave Ninch on 57-0 after 36 deliveries.
Kantolinna may have sent down the games first maiden in his opening over, but his second, the seventh of the contest, saw Chappell slam two sixes as 16 runs were added to leave the reply now on 73-0 and, half the job done with another 13 overs in which to score the required 71 runs!
Over eight sees another six runs added to the total – three to Chappell, two to Piper and, with a leg bye, the score is now 79-0.
Over nine saw Tim Piper hit the third delivery for six, the fourth for four and the fifth for six – this shot bringing up his half century from just 36 balls, but, to the final delivery of the over, he holed out, caught by Tommy Probert to give Richi Panchal a wicket and, at the end of the ninth over, Bradninch were 95-1.
Over 10 goes for three runs, one each for Chappell and new bat Mitch Pugh, plus a leg bye and, ate the halfway stage, Ninch are 98-1, needing 46 runs from the final 60 deliveries with nine wickets to play with.
Over 11 yielded six runs, four to the skipper, one to Pugh and another leg bye to leave the run chase on 104-1.
Over 12 saw both batters score two singles to take the total to 108-1, now needing just 36 runs from the remaining 48 deliveries.
Over 13 saw a dozen runs scored, Chappell playing two dot balls before a single and then Pugh launching a four and a six before ending the over with a single. The score is now 120-1 – only 24 more runs required to book that coveted place in the Vitality Club T20 Cup Area Five final where the opponents will either be Cornish side St Just or Welsh outfit Newport.
Over 14 saw Pugh open with successive dot balls before a single gave Chappell the strike and, after a dot ball, he hammered a six to leave Ninch now 127-1, needing just 17 more!
Over 15 proved to be a long one! Indeed, William Rudge had to send down 10 deliveries to complete his second over! It began with five wides and then another wide before, with the eighth delivery he sent down, he had Gary Chappell caught by Rishi Panchal, with the Ninch skipper over for a 37-ball 46. That left the reply on 138-2, just six runs shy of a huge win. Pugh hit the ninth ball for a single and new bat Dan Hardy despatched the 10th and final delivery to the boundary to leave the scores level on 143-2.
Over 16 lasted just two deliveries as Pugh sent the second one to the ropes to seal a crushing eight wicket win with as many as twenty-eight deliveries remaining!
Pugh ended unbeaten on 23 from 19 deliveries with Hardy not out four from one.
