JUBILANT cricketers from Alton have taken a leaf out of England’s book and secured limited-overs silverware.

The occasion was the final of the Southern League T20 Cup at posh Test venue the Ageas Bowl – and undaunted underdogs Alton were in no way fazed by their surroundings as they beat Bashley by six runs in a thriller.

Bashley were crowned Premier Division champions at the end of August but it was Alton, led by skipper Scott Myers, who rose to the occasion under the lights on Sunday to thwart their bid for a double.

In fact it was the buoyant Brewers who were left celebrating a fine double of their own as they won the T20 Cup for the second time in three years having seen off the challenge of Havant in 2017.

“It was brilliant,” said Myers, “and was something that you never get to experience as a club cricketer. We had a lot of people supporting us from the club and lots of family down too. There was a good crowd.

“We were underdogs but we’ve got a pretty good record in this competition. With T20 anything can happen but we know that we’ve got the firepower with our batting. The one concern we did have was that we were missing our best bowler from the season – Kiwi Matt Bacon – but the other guys stepped up.”

On a murky night, two rain delays threatened to derail Alton as they made good progress with the bat having lost the toss and been put in.

But a 90-run partnership for the third wicket between Myers, who hit 51, and Michael Heffernan laid the foundation for a handy score of 146-6 off their allotted 20 overs, with Toby Salmon smacking a late 12 including a four and a towering six.

“Toby came in and did exactly what we needed him to do,” said Myers. “He made contact with pretty much every ball, including one huge six over square leg and an important four in the last over.

“Michael has had a really tough season in terms of performance but he really stepped up. We had a bit of a mini-collapse toward the end and probably should have scored north of 150, but we were pretty confident because anything over a run a ball puts a lot of pressure on the team batting second.”

And so it proved as a quintet of bowlers kept Bashley in check, despite a belligerent knock of 77 from opener Michael Porter, who rode his luck and was dropped six times, and two late run outs by enterprising wicketkeeper Mark Heffernan which sealed the win and sparked wild celebrations.

“It’s probably the best we’ve bowled all year,” said Myers.

“Fielding wasn’t easy and none of us had done it under lights before, plus it had been raining and the ball was wet. Two of the catches should have been taken and there were four half-chances. The big wicket was getting Tom Friend, who was the leading run scorer in the league. The two opening bowlers bowled brilliantly at him. He couldn’t get the ball away and that put pressure on him and the other batsmen.

“And young off-spinner Xavier Bochereau deserves a mention for how well he bowled. He bowled the last four overs from one end with a wet ball under a lot of pressure.”

*For match report and pictures, see this week’s Herald.