Ashton Black Knights clinch T20 trophy in last ball thriller

Ashton Black Knights pulled off a spectacular last-ball win to lift the Greater Manchester T20 plate on Sunday, August 4.

With seven runs needed to win the game in the last over, the odds were certainly in the favour of Ashton to pull off the win. However, a stunning spell from Wythenshawe Lions’ S Modukuri made things a little difficult for the Knights. 

Having tied the score in the penultimate ball, the Knights just needed a run to clinch the trophy. They had a settled batsman in D Hawthorne on strike, who had already played 23 balls and scored 16 runs.

With all the pressure on him, Hawthorne swung the bat but only managed to get an edge which meant that the ball was up in the air. The Wythenshawe Lions had a fielder in place, but he dropped the catch, which meant that the Knights could easily complete a run and lift the trophy.

R Taylor led the way for Ashton as he scored 37 runs. His well-paced innings helped the team keep the score ticking and eventually pull off a win. M Zuhaib also played a great role towards the end of the second innings as he played some big shots to ease off the pressure. 

Ashton’s A Shahzad was the star of the evening with the ball as he grabbed 3 runs and gave away just 18 runs. His spell included a 3-wicket over where he took the wicket of D Patel, who had scored 32 runs for Wythenshawe. Ashton’s scoring took a hit in the middle overs, but sensible batting in the death helped them get over the line in the all-important fixture. 

The Black Knights have another shot at silverware later this month when they take on Adlington in the John Barrow Trophy final, on Sunday August 18.