Hucknall suffer last-ball agony as T20 crown snatched from their grasp

Going into the final over, Wollaton needed just six runs but when Hamish Llewellyn was run out off the fourth ball, they were still four short.

But Zain Latif scored two off the penultimate ball and then hit the final ball to the boundary to grab the win.

Batting first, Hucknall posted 153-6 in their 20 overs, Oliver Horlock (60), Greg Willows (39) and Ryan Buckley (27) all scoring well at the top of the order before Wollaton hit back with five wickets for 31 runs in the final overs, Kiel Van Vollenhoven taking 3-39.

Van Vollenhoven (56no) then held the run chase together after opener Hassan Azad had made 50, but Hucknall’s bowlers looked to have edged things their way until Latif’s last-ball heroics.

Earlier, Hucknall had been in dominant form in their 76-run semi-final against Caythorpe.

Horlock (100no) and Willows (118no) both hit centuries as Hucknall piled up 244-1 in their 20 overs, Horlock scoring his ton off 58 balls with seven fours and seven sixes, while Willows smashed his runs off just 49 deliveries with nine fours and nine sixes.

Connor Ramm (3-19) then led Hucknall’s bowling as Caythorpe never kept up with asking rate while losing wickets regularly to end on 168-7 in their 20 overs.

In the Nottinghamshire Premier League the previous day, a fine all-round showing from Daniel Blatherwick couldn’t prevent Hucknall from suffering an eight-wicket defeat at Cuckney.

Blatherwick top-scored with 70no as he and George Blatherwick (33no) shared an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 95, that got Hucknall up to 200-6 in their 50 overs after Archie Shannon (4-39) had earlier reduced them to 105-6, despite a 50-run second-wicket partnership between Oliver Horlock (20) and Greg Willows (39).

Daniel Blatherwick then claimed two early wickets to have the home side at 28-2.

But Nick Langford (92no) and Thomas Ullyott (65no) then took the game away from Hucknall with an unbroken third-wicket stand of 174 to see the hosts home at 202-2 in 40 overs.

The win moved Cuckney up to second and Hucknall remain third with Clipstone fourth and defending champions Cavaliers & Carrington down to fifth after being hit with a 16-point penalty and suffering a heavy defeat to leaders Kimberley Institute, who are now 30 points clear at the top and now only need a maximum of three more wins from their remaining six games to be champions.

Papplewick & Linby’s good form continued as they moved into the top six with a six-wicket win over Collingham & District.

Ben Bhabra (4-46) and Dillon Singh (4-52) shared eight wickets between them as Collingham were bowled out for 236 in 49.5 overs.

Robin Smith (62) and Finley Moran (36) set up Papplewick’s reply with a second-wicket stand of 55 before an inbroken fifth-wicket partnrship of exactly 100 between Sam Watson (68no) and Ben Bhabra (44no) – completing an impressive all-round display – saw them home at 237-4 in 41 overs.