ELLIOT Hennessy was the hero for Barnards Green on Sunday as his late flurry with the bat saw his side beat Knowle & Dorridge with just one ball to spare.
The Malvern side needed 17 runs off the final two overs as the visitors’ score of 148 appeared to be enough to see them into the next round of the ECB National T20 competition.
But Hennessy came to the rescue with a six before completing the comeback with a fine shot through third man to secure a dramatic win.
Knowle & Dorridge’s decision to bat first after winning the toss appeared to have paid off as they reached 28 without loss after the first four overs from Jon Dovey and Phil Harris.
Green turned to spin and as Andy Ford’s and George Rhodes’ first overs went for nine and 20 respectively as the Warwickshire side were 61-0 off six overs.
Captain Rhodes made an inspired change, deciding to move Ford to the other end as he broke the partnership by clean bowling Price for 42.
Jack Mackintosh was keeping it tight, but it was Ford doing all the damage. He trapped Price LBW for 28 and then had captain Sam Reddish well caught by Phil Harris at mid-off for ten.
Knowle & Dorridge had gone from 61 without loss to 91-4, with the regular fall of wickets severely limiting their run rate. Nathan Roberts and particularly David Smith hit some late boundaries to take the score to 148-4 off their 20 overs.
Rhodes and Harris would have been hoping to get off to another good start, but it was not to be as the skipper was spectacularly caught in the second over on the long-off boundary by Ben Coley off Brooks for five.
Newport came and went as he edged to keeper Ben Griffin off Jack Grundy to leave the Green 17-2 in the third over.
Knowle & Dorridge were not making it easy for the hosts, but Harris and Ford dug deep and managed to put on 40 before the latter went.
Harris continued to stick around as he took full advantage of some loose deliveries, hitting 22 off the over – including three huge sixes.
But just when Green seemed to be heading towards the win, two quick wickets fell as Josh Tongue was clean bowled by Coley for 26 before Harris skied one from Reddish to be caught by Coley.
Jon Dovey then went for a duck and suddenly the away side saw victory in their sights as Green were 128-6 after 17 overs – needing 21 to win off three overs.
Will Dovey was also bowled in the penultimate over, but Hennessy stepped up to the plate with a quickfire 28, which included two sixes and two fours to delight the home crowd.
This victory came a day after Green hammered Stourbridge in a friendly, with Jamie Tapper top scoring with 66 off 41 balls.