Werrington lifted the Hawkey Cup for the first time since 2018 after beating St Austell by seven wickets at Wheal Eliza on Thursday, writes Matt Friday.
Ben Smeeth took four wickets for the loss of just 12 runs as Werrington restricted their hosts to 101-9, with Michael Harding providing 45 off 47 balls for St Austell.
Daniel Barnard starred in the reply, carrying the bat with an unbeaten 56 off 44 balls as Werrington made sure of their first Hawkey Cup triumph in four years with five overs to spare.
Werrington will now look forward to another Edwards Cup appearance against the winners of next week’s Vinter Cup final between Penzance and St Just.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, St Austell’s innings could hardly have got off to a worse start, with the Saints losing Jonty Leadbeater for a golden duck off Barnard’s delivery in the third ball of the first over, with third batsman Hugh Parkinson facing three balls before he was dismissed for a duck by Barnard as a nightmare first over drew to a close.
Scott Barrott (5) and Alex Bone (4) became Smeeth’s first two victims as St Austell limped to 10-4 in the third over, but fifth batsman Harding’s arrival gave the hosts hope as he hit almost a run-a-ball 45 while the wickets continued to tumble at the other end, with Gary Bone (1) and James Carter (3) being removed by Adam Hodgson and Mark Taskis.
The introduction of David Munn (15) brought with it the best partnership of the innings, with Munn and Harding putting on 47 before the former became Smeeth’s third victim. With the score now at 80-7, Harding continued alongside Adam Snowdon (2) and Liam Watson (4) before Smeeth finally removed the St Austell man in the penultimate ball of the innings.
Facing a target of 102 to win the title, Werrington, unlike their opponents earlier, got off to the perfect start as the opening duo of Smeeth and Barnard instantly got into the swing of things, with the pair racing to 50 after seven overs.
The duo didn’t slow down, with Barnard hitting two sixes in a stellar ninth over that yielded 17 runs in all as the pair reached 75 when Smeeth was dismissed for a run-a-ball 27 midway through the tenth over.
With three quarters of the job done and half the overs remaining, the instant loss of Hodgson for a golden duck proved to be a minor blip with Mark Gribble adding eight alongside Barnard before he was run out by Carter with the score now at 95-3. Ben Jenkin came in and scored one off his only ball before Barnard finished the job as Werrington cruised over the line.
[Featured image: Colin Bradbury / Cornwall Sports Media]