Champions trophy returns to Worksop

A BRILLIANT stand of 89 by Akil Mirza and Wayne Spooner saw the annual Champion of Champions trophy return to Worksop on Saturday.

The match, contested by the Bassetlaw and South Notts League champions, saw Worksop take on Plumtree at Brackenhurst College, Southwell.

Spooner matched out to the middle with the score on 94 for 5 in Worksop’s innings, and the situation looked gloomy for the Central Avenue men.

But along with the superb Mirza, they turned the game around to record a five-wicket win with six overs to spare.

Batting first, Plumtree were struck by two early blows as Spooner (3-24) had Hassan Azad caught behind by Keiron Grey and then trapped Paul White LB.

Matthew Wood and Nigel Finney took the score to 50, when the former was caught by Mark Ambrose and then Finney was run out at 77.

Ben Thompson and Michael Tew put bat to ball with real conviction before Dave Hancock bowled Tew, but another good stand between Thompson and new partner Rob Tapp threatened to take the game away from Worksop.

The return of Chad Keegan (2-24) changed the complexion of the game as he had Tapp caught behind by Grey, and the returning Connor Smith had Thompson caught by Grey.

Matt Millnes was bowled by Keegan for three and the reduced 43-over summit was reached with Plumtree registering a highly respectable 181 for 8.

Keegan and Mirza got the reply going at hurricane pace and an early finish looked likely until Keegan tried one big hit too many and was caught by Tapp with the score on 51.

Worse quickly followed as Manikoth departed first ball LBW to Millnes.

Mirza and skipper Ambrose took the score to 80 before the latter was brilliantly caught by Millnes at mid off.

Glenn Pym was trapped LBW and when Connor Smith departed at 94, the writing looked to be on the wall.

However with Man of the Match Mirza (90*) holding firm, and Spooner (40*) looking in prime form they began to chip away at the deficit.

All the Plumtree bowlers were punished heavily and when Spooner hit a sparkling shot to the boundary the victory was complete.

In the post-match presentations a trophy was handed to Worksop scorer Jayne Robson, before Ambrose lifted the Mapperley Sports cup.

The win came just a week after Worksop clinched promotion to the Notts Premier League, finishing first in the Bassetlaw Championship.