Cup glory for Droylsden

Droylsden Renegades won the GMCLT20 championship with an unlikely chase victory over Greenfield Thunder at Mottram CC on Sunday.  

Greenfield batted first, with Graham Capstick hitting a steady 36 from 39 balls before falling to an lbw.  

Nimesha Gunasinghe carried his form over from his unbeaten century in the semi-final against United Stars, the Sri Lankan swatting his way to 69 off 48 deliveries, a knock that featured ten boundaries. 

This set the Renegades a target of 169. 

The Thunder started well, restricted Droylsden to a shaky 35-3 in the first seven overs, including the dismissal of their wicket keeping pro Rehan Afridi to an early Brad Woolley catch.  

However, a swashbuckling fightback began with the Tameside club smashing 15 runs in the 8th over, followed by 17 from the same end in the 12th to make it 87-3. 

Adam Stansfield, making up for his duck in the semi-final against Mottram earlier in the day, led the charge, carrying his bat for 88 not out from 55 balls.  

Needing 82 from the last eight overs, they reached their total with plenty of room to spare as the Renegades destroyed Uppermill’s attack. All-rounder Ali Azmat also made up for his solitary run against Mottram by launching a quickfire 57 off 30 deliveries. 

A free flowing 34 from 15 balls saw Droylsden over the line with three overs and six wickets to spare.