Cup-winning captain Josh Gent hailed an “exceptional” bowling performance from his Little Lever side – headlined by seven-wicket star Mukhtar Nasir – as they triumphed at Sunday’s Birtwistle Cup T20 Finals at Salesbury.
Little Lever beat Read in the morning semi-final by 25 runs in a rain-reduced clash.
Little Lever posted 113-6 from 14 overs before Read, set a revised target of 103 in 12, were limited to 77-7. Seam-bowling all-rounder Nasir hit 19 and then returned 3-10 from three overs in defence.
Hosts Salesbury then beat Farnworth Social Circle in the second semi before Little Lever won the early-evening final by seven wickets chasing 95.
Salesbury were limited to 94-9 from their 20 overs, with Nasir returning 4-7 from his four overs. In reply, opener Cameron Murray top-scored with 27. The Bolton side won with three overs to spare.
Nasir finished the day with remarkable combined figures of 7-17 from seven overs.
No wonder he was named player-of-the-match in the final.
“We bowled unbelievably well all day,” said Gent. “It was exceptional.
“Mukhtar’s spell in the final was one of the best I’ve seen in T20, and he was by far the best bowler on the day across all sides.
“But all the lads did really well, to be fair.”
Little Lever, champions in 2023, had to win their second T20 title in four seasons without regular professional JP King, who has been called up by South Africa A for a home series against Bangladesh, starting later this week.
They had Heaton’s Sri Lankan Kavishka Anjula as sub-pro, and he claimed two wickets in both games and contributed scores of 20 and 24 not out.
“He was very good,” said Gent.
In that semi-final, there was an argument to suggest that chasing 103 in 12 overs Read were favourites.
“Read won the toss and bowled first because they fancy themselves to chase,” continued the captain. “That’s their thing. They like chasing any total.
“But I don’t care who we were playing, no one was chasing that total with that bowling performance. We just bowled so well and just didn’t allow anyone to get any runs.”
Going into the final, Salesbury were likely to be a tough nut to crack. They have been in good form in the league and had just beaten current Premiership league leaders Farnworth Social Circle.
“On their own ground as well, backed by their supporters and everything, to win that final was a real achievement for us,” said Gent, who estimated that around 30 or 40 supporters travelled from Little Lever to watch.
“We’ve won this competition twice in four years and have been in the final once more. It’s a competition we enjoy, one we take very seriously, and we generally seem to do well in it. We want to win every match we play in.”
As a result of their success, Little Lever will now represent the NWCL in the ECB National Club T20 Knockout and are in the Area Final on August 9.
They travel to face Shireshead and Forton.
A club near Preston, they play their league cricket in Division One of the Palace Shield against the likes of Leyland seconds, Longridge seconds, Blackpool seconds and Burscough and Withnell Fold firsts.
“We’ll look forward to that,” said Gent. “It’s another tournament, another day out, and we’ll get a good side out and give it our best.
Little Lever are second in the NWCL Premiership, 13 points behind Farnworth Social Circle with seven games remaining and a maximum of 12 points available per game.
They bounced back from a defeat at home to Padiham to claim victory at Finals Day.
“Fair play to Padiham, they turned up and played really well,” added Gent.
