Swardeston Cricket Club win silverware at Lord’s as they beat Nantwich by 53 runs with impressive cameos from youngster Alfie Cooper and Peter Lambert.
Connor Southwell of the Eastern Daily Press reports on proceedings from the Home of Cricket on a historic day for the Norfolk Club.
Swardeston did Norfolk cricket proud at Lord’s yesterday to claim an impressive 53 run win over Nantwich in the final of the Royal London Club Championship.
After being asked to bat first Joe Gatting’s side performed well over 40 overs to set a daunting 281 as the initial target for victory and although it was subsequently reduced on the Duckworth Lewis Method after a break for rain they still won with plenty to spare as their Cheshire opponents were dismissed for 193.
Victory means Swardeston can now become the first club to win the 40 over and Twenty20 national titles in the same year, providing they can emerge as winners from their next challenge over the shorter format in Derby on Sunday.
Alfie Cooper in particular stole the show, recording 61 off 65 balls at the age of 19. For a local lad fulfilling his dreams at the Home of Cricket, it was a remarkable display of grit and technique, scoring boundaries at will by also responding to Gatting when he joined him at the crease.
Gatting began with a more conservative approach to his batting, the captain looking to ensure his side recovered from a potential collapse after failing to build a partnership early on as Taylor brothers Jordan and Callum both went cheaply.
It took some impressive bowling by Mitchell Spencer and James Warrington to remove both Gatting for 49 and Cooper for 61.
Peter Lambert then scored an impressive 60 to progress the Swardeston score before eventually being beaten all ends up by a Spencer delivery. It took only 37 balls for him to reach his total, contributing significantly to the score set for Nantwich to chase.
Warrington impressed with the ball for Nantwich throughout the Swardeston innings, boasting the match best figures of three wickets for 60.
Lambert’s power hitting saw him subsequently named as man-of-the-match, hitting a number of boundaries prior to his dismissal. Redemption was the order of the day for Lambert, a member of the Swardeston side who were beaten in the final of this tournament three years previously, when he failed to score a run.
