Wigton Cricket Club’s Under-19s won the T20 County Cup for the first time following their six-wicket win over Kendal.

The two semi-finals and final were staged at Kendal, so that represented a fine effort by Wigton to overcome the hosts and pick up the trophy.

In their semi-final, Wigton saw off Furness impressively, winning by eight wickets after bowling out the south Cumbrians for a modest 55. Matthew Strong (3-11) and George Sparks (3-13) were the pick of the bowlers.

The Wigton batsmen reached their target with relative ease, and had six overs to spare, with Matthew Reed top-scoring with 16 not out.

After a rain delay of two-and-a-half hours, and much hard work from the Kendal groundsmen, they were finally able to hold the toss for the final and John Reed, the Wigton skipper, called correctly. He had no hesitation in asking Kendal to bat first.

Due to the long rain delay, the final was reduced to 15 overs per side and the Kendal batsmen set about their business in workmanlike fashion.

After a solid start, they had reached 63-2 off 10 overs, beginning to set Wigton a very challenging total.

But the arrival of Dan Wilson into the attack changed the course of the innings. He bowled two overs and returned remarkable figures of 5-4, including a hat-trick, so that Kendal closed on 81-9.

In reply, Wigton had reached 24-2 from five overs, so the game was very much in the balance, before Strong lit the blue touch paper, ably supported by George Johnston.

They took the game away from Kendal with the pair adding 58 in six overs. Strong hit a superb 34, leaving only two required when he was out, while Johnston scored the winning runs to finish 24 not out.

Skipper Reed received the trophy, topping off a wonderful day for Wigton.

The Wigton team was: John Reed, Matthew Reed, Theo Manihera, Flynn Manihera, Dan Wilson, George Johnstone, George Spark, Kieran Oliver, Matthew Strong, Aiden Little and Luke Blackburn