Devon Cricket Board - Exmouth through to televised T20 finals

Exmouth through to televised T20 finals

WHAT a finish! Exmouth batsmen Trevor Anning and Finlay Marks kept their cool in a hot-house environment to earn spot at ECB T20 Clubs Cup finals day.
Twelve months on from the disappointment of losing to Ashtead in the last eight of the same competition, Exmouth were pitched against Wimbledon in the South versus West qualifier with a play-off place at stake again.
The prize for the winners is a televised finals day at the Swalec Stadium in Cardiff in early September, when all four regional winners battle it out.
Exmouth should find out on Monday who they will meet in the semi-finals in front of the Sky TV cameras.
Wimbledon made 157 for six in their 20 overs at Cranleigh CC in Surrey, then reduced Exmouth to two for none in reply with Richard Baggs and Bob Dawson both dismissed without scoring.
David Lye (47) and Dan Pyle (34) repaired the damage during a stand of 104 for the third wicket and Exmouth seemed to be cruising into the last four.
Pyle, who was first out, hit five sixes and two fours from 37 balls faced.
Lye’s contribution came off 31 balls with seven fours and a six.
Wimbledon took five wickets for 16 runs as Exmouth wobbled on the chase after Pyle got out.
Anning, who dropped out of the Devon squad to face Shropshire due to injury and travelled with Exmouth instead, led the second comeback in a frantic four-over dash for glory.
Exmouth needed 19 from the last two overs and nine from the last one, bowled by former Exmouth player Neil Turk
Turk, who played for Exmouth in 2003-04 while studying at the University of Exeter, bowled five balls for eight runs, leaving one to win off the final ball.
After a long pause while fielders were moved, Turk bowled, Anning (pictured) flicked the ball through square-leg and the winning single was scampered.
Winning skipper Gary Chappell can’t wait for finals day to come around.
“What a game,” said Chappell. ”On to Cardiff in front of Sky Sports.
“We bowled and fielded well against a decent side, who looked like getting 170-180.
“We clawed it back well, then got off to a nightmare start when we batted.
“Dan Pyle and David Lye batted unbelievably well to get us well ahead of the rate before we had our collapse.
“It seemed we had lost our way, needing 40 off four with seven down, but Trevor and Finlay saw us home with some great shots.”
Wimbledon 157-7 (G Grace 43, M Spriegel 41; G Chappell 3-43), Exmouth 158-7 (D Pyle 57, D Lye 47, T Anning 34no; D Hooey 4-26). Exmouth bt Wimbledon by 3 wkts.

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