White Hill Field (Willow Cuts won toss): Willow Cuts beat Warwick by five wickets

Willow Cuts booked their spot in the Western Counties final after causing a minor surprise with a thrilling victory over Warwick in a rain-affected encounter on Saturday.

Having been put into bat, Warwick posted a total of 281 from 49.3 overs, with national players Delray Rawlins and Malachi Jones scoring 80 and 60 respectively and supported by Corey Burgess (46) and Zeri Tomlinson (40).

Despite the target being reduced to 260 from 46 overs, it looked as though Warwick were set to claim victory as Cuts stuttered in the early stages of their innings.

However, with some heavy showers hitting White Hill Field, the target was revised again to 152 and reduced to 27 overs, giving Cuts renewed hope as they were left requiring 94 from their final 14 overs and seven wickets still in hand.

With the wickets of Deunte Darrell (0), Antonio Darrell (25) and Joseph Basden falling, Dominic Sabir and Dean Stephens steadied the chase, as it came down to cuts needing six runs from the final over.

It was Stephens, who had earlier taken three wickets, who was the match winner, smashing Staphen Dill for six off the second ball of the over to secure the win and spark wild celebrations among the Cuts players and fans alike.

“There was only one way to finish the game off in that last over; I just had to,” said Stephens, who is relishing the opportunity to face former club Somerset Bridge in the final on at the same venue on August 12.

“When that total was revised again and they gave us the run rate, we knew we had a big chance.

“Our middle order always hits hard and so I was always confident. We kept chipping the total down, running for a lot of twos and I was waiting for that chance.

“This means a lot to the club, we were definitely the underdogs today, but we managed to come through and now I can look forward to the final against my old team.

“It will definitely be special for me and I’ll be aiming to play even better because I definitely cannot afford to lose to them.”

Despite posting what appeared to be a strong total, Warwick may look back with frustration on an innings that tailed off dramatically once Jones departed with the score at 256 for five with seven overs remaining.

From that point, wickets tumbled at regular interviews with none of the remaining batters reaching double figures, as Luke Horan (1), Ajani Lee (3), Omari Deshields (6), Robert Richardson (2) and Luke Fulton (1) all fell with only 25 runs added to the total in a little more than six overs.

As well as Stephens’ three wickets Darrell, Sabir and Chakote Basden each took two wickets apiece.

Cuts’ reply got off to the worst possible start when opener Jaiden Manders (0) was caught off the bowling of Fulton with the second delivery.

Dwight Basden (16) was forced to retire injured at the start of the ninth over with namesake Chakote (1) also struggling, leaving the score at 60 for two with 12 overs already played.

Despite the heavens opening again and the total revised, the struggles continued with Darrell bowled by Horan having faced only three balls.

Antonio Darrell and Joseph Basden helped take the total to 103, but that still left Cuts requiring 46 runs from a little less than six overs.

However, with Sabir and Stephens remaining composed and hitting boundaries at crucial times, any lingering nerves began to settle as momentum swung back in Cuts’ favour.

As the pair remained inside the required run rate and the match entered the final over, the stage was set for Stephens to find his third boundary and clinch victory, much to the disappointment of Warwick coach Lorenzo Tucker.

“We’re all really disappointed because unfortunately the weather played a big part,” he said. “We scored 281 which should have been a daunting task on this field, but the rain kept delaying play and the overs kept coming down.

“We knew that would benefit the team batting second and that’s just unfortunate. However, it was a thrilling match and credit to Willow Cuts because they played very well.”