Griffins on top of the swings and roundabouts
GRIFFINS mastered the nuances of the shortest format impressively to lift the trophy for the T10 Triangular with a perfect record at the KGV.
Fresh from his Evening League century two days previously, captain Tom Kirk led his side to victory with a brisk 40 not out in the final against Wanderers-Irregulars as they chased down 90 with seven wickets and seven balls to spare.
Kirk crashed three big sixes as well as a couple of fours in his 19-ball knock after useful contributions from Dan Le Messurier and Matt Philp earlier in the reply.
GH Smit had top-scored for Wanderers-Irregulars with 38 as they racked up a competitive 90 from their 10 overs and had they managed to take their subsequent chances in the field, the result might have been different, but Griffins were fitting winners as the best side throughout the day.
The volatile nature of T10 was emphasised in the opening throes of the event as Griffins took on Cobo in the first of the three round-robin matches.
Tom Nightingale’s first-over assault on Matt Breban resulted in 26 runs being taken off it, but just a few minutes later Matt Renouf delivered a double wicket maiden – it really was swings and roundabouts.
The question of just what is a good score in this format of the game was not answered immediately.
Griffins’ initial effort of 89 looked good and proved comfortably enough to give them victory over a Cobo side who were happy to get their youngsters fully involved on the day.
But in the subsequent round-robin games, the totals kept going up as players became more willing to buy into the all-out-attack concept.
Wanderers-Irregulars notched up 97 batting first against Griffins first time around, Ant Stokes making the sole half-century of the day.
But Griffins never looked flustered in their run chase and sealed their second victory of the day with three balls and nine wickets to spare.
That left Wanderers-Irregulars and Cobo to play off for the other final spot and although CJ Peatfield carried his bat for 41 to get Cobo up to 100, again that did not prove enough as Stokes maintained his good form, top scoring with an eight-wicket win with two balls remaining.
