Ashington Cricket Club hit back against Sacriston to claim second T20 win

The visitors must have thought they had given themselves a chance of victory after posting a more than competitive score which was boosted when left-hander Andrew Nicholson smashed the first three balls of the final over for maximums, to boost their score to 175 from their allotted 20 overs.

In total, Sacriston – with 86 on the board at the halfway mark – hit nine sixes, but Ashington’s reply smacked of ‘anything you can do we can do better’ with an outrageous onslaught led by skipper Sean McCafferty and Ben O’Brien.

Albeit there was a short boundary on one side of the ground, but as the home crowd lapped up the ferocious hitting, Sacriston were shell-shocked.

McCafferty and O’Brien brought up their respective half centuries in consecutive overs – the skipper leading the way, and the Mighty Acorns in dreamland, after the pair had incredibly plundered 114 from the first seven overs.

It was beginning to look as if the duo were going to complete the task, but with the score on 138, McCafferty was pouched by Jack Adams at long-on.

Ashington’s skipper struck five boundaries and eight maximums in a truly majestic knock of 81 – from only 28 deliveries.

Not far behind was O’Brien, who swatted eight fours and four sixes.

The right-hander was unbeaten with a magnificent 73 to his name from only 36 balls.

Jack McCarthy was the other wicket to fall, spooning a return catch to bowler Nicholson before Ashington’s professional, Jeremiah Louis, finished the game off in style with a towering six over the square leg boundary from the fourth ball of the 14th over.

Earlier, Sacriston’s Daniel Stephenson (24) and Solomon Bell (15) got their side off to an explosive start as they took 34 from the first two overs.

The pair were well supported by knocks of 50 from Pranav Khera, an unbeaten 47 from Nicholson and 30 from Hamish Barrie, as they closed on 175-5.