Saturday saw the Second XI display some of their best and worst cricket in a closely fought semi-final with Chester le Street.
Having won the toss, our guests elected to bat and were eventually bowled out for 146 - a slightly flattering total for the away side following an outstanding bowling performance (Anth Hunter 3-20, Joe Kilpatrick 2-20 and Joe Torre 1-28 the pick of the bowlers).
Despite the good deck, The Hill chase stuttered right out of the gate. Ben Mussett and Adam Heather stabilised the innings and took us to 74-2 but a precession of ducks followed and the classic Benwell Hill collapse ensued. With 8 wickets down and having opened the batting, Mussett went on the offensive blasting a series of boundaries to take us to within 14 runs of victory. But when the run-pig finally fell for 63 and with the last pair still requiring 14 runs to win, the cause looked to be lost. But when Anth Hunter unleashed his inner Ben Stokes to compliment Joe Torre's Jack Leach, we somehow found ourselves needing two for to win with 3 overs remaining. Anth clipped the first ball of the over to deep square leg and despite Torre doing his best Nicko impression by trying to affect a run-out, they scampered home with the win.
So the season marches on and somehow we've found ourselves in the cup final vs South North next Saturday - we hope to see you there for the season finale, it's usually an interesting affair.
The scorecard is available here https://benwellhill.play-cricket.com/website/results/4516683
