Tinker Cup for St John’s in tense finale

St John’s won the Standard Bank Tinker Cup in a tense finish at Tromode on Sunday.

They dismissed Cronkbourne for 133 but then struggled against a lively Douglas attack.

At 104 for 4 the Saints were in control, but then they lost four wickets for only three runs.

Cronkbourne now had the upper hand, but calm batting from Andy Turner and Dean Wales steered St John’s to victory.

Batting first, the Douglas side quickly lost both openers, but a determined 27 from Mike Hebden rallied the side. There was also good work from Steve Slack (20) and Alex Stokoe (29) before Greg Hawke struck. In a fine spell he destroyed the lower order to finish with five wickets for 21 from eight overs.

The St John’s reply was rocked by Matt Ansell who caused havoc amongst the top order. He quickly dismissed the first three batsmen and the Saints were in serious trouble until Dan Hawke came to the rescue.

He crafted a sensible 32 before being bowled by Ansell who had returned for a second spell. It was then the Saints slumped from a string position to needing 27 from their last two batsmen.

However Turner and Wales defied a spirited assault and ground out an invaluable win.