SHERIFF Hutton Bridge rounded off a magnificent season by winning the White Rose Yorkshire Premier Leagues’ Championship play-off final at Emerald Headingley.
The North Yorkshire side followed up their first ECB Yorkshire Premier League North title triumph by beating Bradford League outfit Woodlands by two runs in the showpiece final.
Sheriff Hutton Bridge batted first and made 212-6 on a central strip that had last been used for the England v Sri Lanka World Cup clash, next door to the strip where Ben Stokes performed his Ashes heroics.
Woodlands then recovered from 18-3, courtesy of Liam Collins’ exciting 85, but fell agonisingly short on 210-9 in a dramatic end to the 2019 club season.
Woodlands bowled 36 overs of spin via Brice, Brad Schmulian and Kez Ahmed and Sheriff Hutton Bridge half of their 50 overs from twirlers - former Yorkshire player Karl Carver and diminutive Sri Lankan Dulash Udayanga.
Bridge skipper Adam Fisher won the toss and opted to bat and the openers cashed in on width from Elliot Richardson but had to be wary against the prodigious swing of Mohammad Bilal.
Although some of the latter’s best deliveries were dug out, he produced a beauty to dismiss Louis Foxton before fellow opener Ed Barnes and Adam Fisher added 110 for the second wicket.
Bridge were 105-1 at drinks before Barnes (54) hit Brice to long off where Bilal pouched him in the shade of the Emerald Stand.
Udayanga followed for 13, caught by Garner in the shade at long on, and Brice’s third victim was Tommy Hudson, who looked like a fish out of water before being deceived by a beauty that turned and bounced.
Brice finished with 3-44 off his 15 overs but Adam Fisher batted on before falling to a back-pedalling Ahmed off Schmulian for 75.
Carver made a rapid 38 not out to swell the score to 212-6 but it still felt 30 or 40 runs short on what Yorkshire chief executive Mark Arthur said was a 250 pitch.
That score looked more healthy, however, when Tim Jackson, Sam Frankland and Garner were back in the changing room with 18 on the board as new-ball pairing Barnes and Dave Henstock weighed in.
But Collins took the game to the opposition, despite losing Schmulian (16) and Finn (23) to Carver along the way as the score reached 99-5.
Scott Richardson (19) and Bilal (24) also provided support but when Collins sliced Henstock to Barnes at third man from the first ball of the 48th over, the Bradford League champions still needed 19 from 17 balls with two wickets left.
Elliot Richardson and Ahmed reduced that to seven from the last over but Sheriff Hutton Bridge and Henstock held their nerve.
With three needed from the final ball, Ahmed holed out at deep point to give the impressive Henstock 4-28 from 10 overs.
Yorkshire second-teamer Barnes, who took 2-37 off 11 overs in addition to his 54, was named man of the match.
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