Swardeston’s dream of returning to Barbados ended with defeat in west London today.
The reigning National Twenty20 club champions – who enjoyed a trip to the Caribbean as their prize for winning at the Rose Bowl last September – travelled to Ealing for the area finals of this year’s competition, but after seeing off Brentwood in their first match, they lost by five wickets to the hosts.
Swardeston chose to bat first against Ealing but slumped to 35 for five, before Jaden Hatwell fired 54 from 51 balls, including seven fours, to guide them to 91 all out.
Hopes were raised when Michael Eccles struck twice to reduce Ealing to 16 for three, but a fourth wicket stand of 63 saw the game slip away from the Norfolk side. They claimed two wickets late on, but Ealing completed victory in the 17th over and they will now progress to the regional finals.
In their opening match of the day, Swardeston had cruised to an eight-wicket win against Brentwood.
Brentwood struggled to reach 64 all out in the 18th over, with Richard Sims taking three wickets.
Hatwell (20no) and Peter Lambert (34no) guided Swardeston to victory in the 12th over.
