The Rozel Shield is back in their hands for a fourth time having had their run of Evening League One success interrupted by Cobo last year after three years of dominance since their first title in 2022.
The 2025 winners were the only team to take a game off Indies this time around, but after that early defeat Nathan Le Tissier’s side have embarked on a run of seven consecutive victories to make it eight in total over their nine-match campaign, culminating in Monday’s 58-run success over Irregulars.
‘It was a little bit bitter last year that we didn’t win it again, and we know we should be aiming there every year with the squad that we’ve got, so it’s great to have it back in our hands and it definitely added a bit of extra motivation,’ said triumphant skipper Le Tissier.
While they have the strongest T20 squad in the top flight, the undoubted star of their summer has been Tom Nightingale and fittingly he was in the runs again this week, top scoring with 60 from 39 balls to take his final EL1 aggregate to 489 for the campaign.
CJ Peatfield chipped in with a valuable 38, including five fours and a six, as Indies set Irregulars a target of 160.
They came up well short, with Josh Barrett’s 22 after coming in at nine the highest contribution in their 101 for 9.
That decisive win on the night they were presented with the iconic trophy came less than a week after Indies had taken an unassailable lead at the top of the table thanks to a convincing nine-wicket win over Cobo, who they had restricted to just 112 from their 20 overs before the skipper hit an unbeaten 54 to guide his side home alongside Matt Stokes, after a rare single-figure score for Nightingale.
‘We’ve been very lucky this year to get the same eight or nine players out every week and then everyone pitched in and helped out,’ said Le Tissier
‘Obviously Tommy’s been unbelievable at the top of the order, and then we’ve had some really important knocks when he hasn’t managed to – Zak’s played a couple of really good innings, Stokesy as well.
‘Then with the ball we’ve been really tight and we know we’re always a good fielding unit, so just a good all-round team performance this year.
‘Every game is competitive, with there only being four teams in the league now, you know every time you have to step onto the pitch you’ve got to give 100%.
'Obviously it wasn’t nice losing it last year, but to bounce back the way we have, I’ve been really pleased with the boys still showing that intent to win, and that drive to win is really important for us. We're really glad it’s back in our hands now.’
