KIRKBURTON were eagerly waiting to see who they would face in Sunday’s Romida Twenty/20 final after the Delph & Dobcross v Golcar clash was abandoned due to heavy rain.
Matthew Wood’s Burton side had raced to a convincing victory at Honley, which at one stage had looked unlikely as home openers Simon Kelly and Richard Jakeman thrashed a century stand in just over nine overs.
But when Kelly had to retire hurt with a pulled hamstring after reaching a rapid 43, and Jakeman soon followed after hitting nine fours in a 38-ball 56, there was suddenly a quick procession as Burton hit back to restrict the League champions to 158-7.
And it didn’t pose any problems for Kirkburton at all as opener Ollie Davidson fired nine fours and three sixes in a belligerent knock of 48 from 29 balls, while Greg Buckley made light of the big ground by smashing five sixes and a couple of fours in making 45 from just 22 balls.
Both openers were dismissed by Jakeman but Burton’s progress was never halted as Ryan Robinson (32no) and Wood (24no) quickly put their team in the final with eight wickets and a massive five overs to spare.
Over at Delph & Dobcross the home side batted first and made 176 all out, Irfan Zahoor (36), Adnan Ghous (34) and Faisal Butt (31) the main run-getters, while Craig Horner took three for 14.
But Golcar were struggling at 51-4 and had their iconic skipper Steve Whitwam back in the tent when rain struck.
