Ashton CC go back-to-back

Sunday saw Ashton Cricket Club pick up the GMCL T20 plate for the second year running, as the Black Knights defeated hosts Golbourne Giants in the final to lift the trophy.

The first semi-final of the day was a repeat of the 2024 final v Wythenshawe which saw Ashton come out on top with the final delivery of the day. 

After the rain had fallen all morning it proved to be an excellent toss to lose for Ashton as Wythenshawe elected to bat first with the overs reduced to 20 down to 15. 

Wythenshawe’s opening pair got off to a steady start, going around 6/7 an over through the reduced powerplay of five overs before change bowler Aaron Hurd got the first wicket.

 Matt Taylor the danger player for Wythenshawe played very well for his 39 (30) before Tom Rayson had him caught at mid-off, at the other end the Wythenshawe batsmen failed to support him and wickets began to fall on a regular basis through tight bowling spells, backed up with an excellent fielding display taking all catches and restricting Wythenshawe to 96 from their 15 overs.

In reply the Ashton innings got off to a woeful start, star players Professional Vishva Chathuranga & Ramis Mustafa were dismissed early on leaving them 20-2. 

Following that, a fantastic performance from opening batsman Richard Taylor 57* (32) ignored what was happening at the other end and began to take Wythenshawe’s attack apart, playing some quality drives through cover before getting set and clearing the straight boundary with ease, at the other end Ayaz Choudhry contributed to the partnership very well with 28* (30) as they put on 77 together and saw Ashton ease through the first game of the afternoon, where they would go on to face hosts Golborne in the final.

Heading into the final, as Golborne comfortably passed by Springhead in their Semi Final, Ashton fortunately won the toss and decided runs on the board was the best way to go in a cup final.

Opening up, the Golborne pair bowled a tight opening spell, unfortunately Professional Vishva was on the end of a questionable caught behind decision where most in the ground had thought he hit the floor, fortunately opening partner Richard Taylor picked the run rate up for Ashton, hitting 27(19) with five fours and a six before being caught at short fine leg finding himself unlucky in doing so. 

Ramis Mustafa 23 (19) was playing the situation well in the middle overs, before falling to a full toss from Golborne’s professional Naizi at long on with a spectacular catch leaving the Black Knights in a difficult position of 72/5 with eight overs remaining. 

At the crease was Tom Rayson and Captain Dan Hawthorne, on a used, difficult wicket it was discussed and agreed to play safe and tick the scoreboard up to around 120/130 to give the team something to bowl at, fortunately the pair were able to pull this off putting on 44 in the next six overs with good running and the odd boundary pushed Ashton up to a decent, defendable total of 128.

Having batted on the surface, the Ashton players knew early wickets and runs on the board would pile the pressure on Golborne, this proved to be the case.

Opening up, Professional Vishva Chathuranga who struck with the 3rd ball of the innings removing the opening batsman that has scored 70+ in both league games between the two teams this season, Tom Rayson, followed on from his good innings with the most important wicket of the day removing Golborne’s professional Naizi for just 2 LBW, followed by an outstanding over the head diving catch from youngster Mattin Munawar, which left the hosts 20/3.

A good partnership between Golborne’s number four and five kept them in the game through the middle overs, Golborne were 76/3 before Ahasan Shahzad removed their set batsman for 38 with an outstanding over the head catch from Chathuranga.

From there, six further wickets fell making the score 79/6, the key wicket being Golborne’s number five who, just as Ashton were getting ahead of the game hit two sixes out of the ground to bring everything back level, maybe even giving Golborne the upper hand.

In the death overs Aaron Hurd bowled a fantastic two over spell from the shorter, clubhouse end removing two lower order hitters caught at long off by Dan Hawthorne. 

A tight penultimate over from Vishva going for only five runs left Golborne needing 15 off the last over the be bowled by Om Trivedi, who dismissed the set batsman with the second ball of the over with a slower ball to leave 15 from just four balls required.

The last wicket fell with a brilliant run out from Vishva leaving Golborne all out for 114 and the game was over.

​For the second year in a row, Ashton CC had won the GMCL T20 Plate, a remarkable achievement. 

This was the Club’s fourth trophy in just two seasons following on from the 2024 treble win, the club is moving from strength to strength and this really is a brilliant period for them both on and off the field.

Final score: Ashton Black Knights 128/8 (20.0) v Golborne Giants 114ao (19.4)