ECHO Cup finals day: Northern cruise to fourth crown after Formby’s semi slip

Northern celebrate winning the 2025 ECHO Cup final Back row, l-r: Dan Wilson, Louis Bhabra, Ben Edmundson, Stephen Lucas, Liam Grey, Josh Thompson, Tom Sephton, Paul Delve (scorer) Front row, l-r: Alex Vincent, Tyler McGladdery, James Cole (captain), Shivy Gautam, Johnny Browne

Northern were in cruise control as they sealed their fourth ECHO Cup T20 title, with the prospect of more silverware on the road ahead.

Neither Newton-le-Willows nor Widnes made the reigning national T20 champions break sweat in front of a healthy home crowd.

And Formby, who won the Comp’s T20 crown at the same ground last month, fumbled a semi-final that seemed in their grasp in the day’s first – and most exciting – encounter.

Cheshire County League side Widnes had staggered to 43/3 from 11 overs, but Aaron Soni smashed 63 off 30 balls to post a respectable 140.

By contrast, Formby flew out of the blocks, with Tom Billington peppering the off-side fence on his way to the day’s highest score, an unbeaten 86.

With seven overs to go, they were 100/2 and coasting before the introduction of Tom Evans, the coincidentally-named left-arm spinner and, it turns out, death overs specialist.

Billington was starved of the strike as Evans removed Jack Carney and George Evans, yielding just six runs from his first three overs.

It meant Formby needed 11 off his last set. After Archie Davies ran two off the first, Soni leapt to his left to hold a stunning catch off the second. Ryan Kennedy ran a single, leaving Billington needing eight off three. 

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He swept and sliced a couple of twos before sweeping again off the last ball, with four needed and three for the tie. They completed two with ease but failed to even attempt a third, with keeper Chris Kirby heading to the middle of the wicket to retrieve the ball. 

A tie would have been enough, with both sides having lost six wickets and Formby ahead on power play runs. 

In another timeline, they had done just enough – as the stunned players shook hands, someone in the Formby camp noticed a no-ball in the fifth over of Widnes’s innings which was added to the score but did not result in an extra ball or a free hit.

It turned out the scorers had misinterpreted a signal from the umpires and Widnes had been awarded an extra run, equal to the winning margin. But after so long, nothing could be done. 

Evans bowled the last ball with men back on the long leg-side boundary knowing he could afford to give away two – if the score had been different, so would the tactics.

As Formby licked their wounds, Widnes’s players hastily arranged childcare and cancelled plans for the rest of the bank holiday Monday – against all their expectations, they had a final to play in.

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Thanks to Stephen Lucas’s 81, Northern were able to set Newton 157 – a task made instantly trickier when Liam Grey removed Nathan Hughes with the first ball of the reply.

After the power play, bowled by Grey and Tom Sephton, Newton were 18/2 and fading fast – when captain Ben Walkden was fourth out in the 12th over, they still needed 103 runs.

Young leg-spinner Hugo Croft, who earlier took 1/17 from his four overs, got the margin down to 26 runs with a breezy 57, but Northern’s place in the final was never under threat.

Widnes skipper Alex Hewitt won the toss and batted, condemning the hosts to another 20 overs in the field straight away, but Grey quickly put a spring in their step by striking with his first ball again, pinning the dangerous Rohan Luthra.

Grey’s first three overs cost just 10 runs and when he returned to bowl the 11th he immediately claimed the key wicket of Soni. Widnes were 54/5 and this time there was no late recovery – Dan Wilson claimed three wickets as they were bowled out for 109 off the last ball.

Irish seamer Trent McKeegan gave Widnes a brief glimpse of hope by removing both openers, but Tyler McGladdery made sure it was no more than that with a serene unbeaten 45.

One cover drive off Soni alone was worthy of the player of the match award, decided by the three umpires on duty – in truth, there was no outstanding individual because the team performance ensured there was no need for one.

from Merseyside Cricket Online https://ift.tt/dqUWubY