Golden Hill emerge as Stuart Turner U19 T20 champions

GOLDEN Hill defeated Cheltenham Chiefs and then Dumbleton Dynamite to lift Gloucestershire’s Stuart Turner T20 U19 Cup after a hectic day of action at the Seat Unique Stadium.

The packed schedule began with Golden Hill restricting Cheltenham to 96-9 in the opening semi-final, Will Windows capturing 3-22 and Max Murphy 2-8, before Ethan Moss (38) and opener Sam Brooks (23) led the way to a five-wicket win with 14 balls to spare.

Holders Dumbleton then made a powerful start to the second semi, piling up 171-4 against newcomers Bristol Afghans thanks to fine knocks from Tommy Boorman (52 retired), fellow opener Nick Schubach (45) and Myles Holland (36).

In reply, Bristol Afghans were restricted too 91 all out, Hamid Khan unbeaten on 21, as Ryan Kilmister struck with 3-15.

The final, meanwhile, proved to be a tight, low scoring affair with Dumbleton restricted to 126-7 after losing the toss.

The holders’ total owed much to skipper Holland (41) and Theo Chinn-Brown (39) who rescued the innings after a flurry of early wickets fell, Charlie Allan the pick of the attack with a return of 2-15.

Golden Hill then also found themselves on the back foot before Zaman Shafi (40 not) and Moss (35) batted with great composure to seal the spoils by five wickets with seven balls in hand and bring the curtain down on a tremendous day of cricket.

Scott Tremain, the Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation’s Club Development Manager, said: “Congratulations to Golden Hill on winning the cup for the first time after producing a series of consistently strong performances, particularly on finals day.

“We are very grateful to Gloucestershire for hosting us and to the ground staff for their hard work to ensure all three games went so smoothly.

“Thanks also to Stuart Turner for their support as well as our team of umpires, all the scorers and all the clubs who entered the competition. The planning for next year will start very soon!”