Some words to celebrate the fantastic achievements of our 3rd XI who regained the 3rd XI T20 Forza Trophy after beating Toft by 31 runs on their ground yesterday.

It was another great day for the club in general and the Sunday sides in particular, as for the second time in three seasons, two Didsbury sides were represented at Finals Day. The 4s unfortunately suffered through the clash with the U15s match in the first round of their regional tournament (which they won!) as selection was stretched. The 4s were drawn against Toft, the holders and hosts, and their quality showed in an ultimately comfortable 8 wkt win. Although disappointed, the 4s could do no more on the day and can take pride in making it through to Finals Day in any case – many other teams tried and failed!

But it was yet another happy Finals Day for the 3s, the seventh such I personally have been involved in during my time with the club and hopefully the first of many more for some of the younger players (although Ben and Joe, along with Corbs tasted success in 2024, and Mash in 2022).

As I have said elsewhere, this was a sixth win in the last eight seasons (excl. 2020 when there was no T20 event), an amazing record which is unlikely to be equalled or surpassed in my lifetime. Strangely, of all the victories, none have been especially ‘tense’ inasmuch as going down to the last over, say, or last delivery – indeed, in 2013 (my first year) I didn’t know then that the semi-final against Cheadle would be the closet victory I would witness.

It still lives in the memory, incidentally – Dids only made 92 and Cheadle were 90-7 going into the last over. Mark Dowse bowled a wicket maiden which is still the single most brilliant thing I have ever seen in 3s cricket.

Yesterday the 3s eased past Georgians in their semi without being anywhere near their best – they made a ‘working total’ of 151 and despite an infuriating wides count (17) SG got nowhere near a challenge, Jan bowling a great death spell to take 4-12 (on a hat-trick at one stage) as the 3s ran out 36-run winners.

They had a near four-hour wait for the Final although as a chunk of that was spent indulging in the wonderful hospitality of Toft it was no great hardship.

The Final itself was a mirror image of the 2025 showdown between the two sides, with Dids batting first on this occasion. There was an immediate blow as Kush fell to a skied pull second ball but that was soon forgotten as Nikash and Krishav put together a quite brilliant stand of 83 in 9.2 os. They hit some super shots, ran superbly and really looked the part, and it was a pleasure to watch their talent so obviously on show.

When Nikash made his only misjudgement, Toft’s relief was palpable, and it was suddenly their turn to have a spell, 95-2 turning into 122-6 at the end of the 16th. But step forward Ben Lowe. He’d already put in a terrific display with bat and ball in the semi, and now, under real pressure, he seemed to feel no nerves whatsoever as he and Harri added 36 in the next three, Ben smacking a six into the car park and then hitting two delightful fours – proper shots, not slogs or swipes – as, with more excellent running, Dids passed the important 8-an-over rate and set Toft 166.

That Toft didn’t really get close was testament to the quality of the attack, Ben again opening up with a pacy spell. The tone was set immeditely when opener Kim Wulff – who really hurt us in the 2025 final, and had made a handsome unbeaten 71 in their semi – slashed the second ball to wide third man, Nikash making a fantastic athletic sliding stop to prevent a four. Toft had quite a number of boundary boo-boos when we batted and that difference first up was really important. Next ball, Wulff did what Kush had done, a fraction late on a pull and it went swirling upwards, where Corbs pouched a vital catch.

The wayward bowling radar, which reared its ugly head throughout, cost a bit of momentum but Nikash produced a ripper which Noah W could only nick though to the keeper, another key wicket. Next over Krishav produced arguably the individual moment of the day, as, running back from point – and managing to ignore Nikash who was charging towards the ball too - he caught a wild, swirling slash that was coming down over his shoulder. The young man was mobbed by his teammates and no wonder.

The over after that, Aaron G, who had a quiet day, still played a part as he rushed the dangerous Hamilton (23 off 13) and another attempted pull went up the chimney and down into the waiting gloves of Corbs. Four wickets in the powerplay was a brilliant effort and when Corbs then pulled off a run out with an off-balance shy the game was firmly in the 3s grasp. Despite more charity bowling with another 15 wides in total, Toft couldn’t get anything going, and with our fielding white-hot the result was never really in doubt, the 3s winners by 31 runs.

The umpires selected Krishav as player of the final although both Nikash and Ben were very strong candidates – and as Ben said to me afterwards, the team won which was all that really mattered, and he was delighted for Krishav too, as talented (and popular) a player as you could wish to meet. It was great to see all of them enjoying a celebratory drink and all excitedly talking on top of each other as the ‘de rigeur’ fines meeting took place.

To win the trophy with a team whose average age (excluding Corbs and Mash) is 17 yrs 2 months is really very special, and indeed is how the 3rd XI trophy ought to be being won. Even including the two older players, that average only goes up to 21 yrs and 8 months (although if you include the scorer it rockets up past 25, but we won’t go into further detail there).

Many congratulations to all of the team and thanks for all those who travelled to support too, and the 4s players who stayed on to cheer the 3s – it all played its part on the day.