A couple of weeks passed before the season started to hot up again, with two summer cup semi-finals. We were unfortunately unsuccessful in both, perhaps not surprising since we were up against strong teams and were a little bit rusty, with Wednesday night training long having been disbanded. Unfortunately, that was 5 losses in the last 7 games of the season but our win percentage remained over 70%.
Sunday 6th September 2026: High Peak U13s summer competition T20 semi-final
Bramhall Beavers 118/9 (20) beat Heaton Mersey Magic 99 all out (19.2) by 19 runs (Scorecard)
This was an unexpected semi-final as we hadn’t tracked whether Magic were in position to make the last four as the best runner-up over the three divisions (Phoenix were the other second place but crucially Magic’s tie against Marple was the difference, with their net run rate being superior to the third group’s second placed team).
Bramhall had two teams in the semi-final (the Beavers and the Bisons), with Cheadle being the other group winners. The Beavers had a home fixture on the Sunday morning. They won the toss and elected to bat.
Mersey made a good start, with Archie and Thomas L bowling tightly, the latter bowling one of the openers in his first over. Shawaiz and Lucas kept things steady, then struck in consecutive overs, with Shawaiz getting a batter caught by Charlie, then Lucas got wickets, one caught by Omar and one bowled.
A wicket by Zayaan (bowled) left the home side on 53/5 after 8 overs then, after a partnership of 17, another clatter of wickets followed, with Zayaan and Thomas both hitting the stumps and Arjo getting another wicket (another catch for Charlie). At 76/8, it was looking like a very chaseable total, but there number 9 batsman had other ideas, scoring a calm 21 off 27 balls with two fours.
Ollie R got a wicket, keenly stumped by keeper Charlie, but by that time the score had reached 110/9. The home side ended up on 118/9 off their 20 overs, setting a much trickier target than might have been the case.
In response, Arjo fell early but Shawaiz and Thomas L rebuilt steadily. Shawaiz started to accelerate, hitting a four and a six off consecutive overs, but was caught for 21 off 18 balls, with the score on 31/2 after 7 overs. Thomas L took on the responsibility of keeping the run rate up, scoring three fours in all, but he was bowled for 22 off 28 balls and then the same fate befell Thomas C. When Billy was out two balls later, Magic had fallen from 53/2 to 53/5 and the chances of a win diminished rapidly.
Zayaan was out shortly afterwards, with the score on 62/6, but Charlie and Omar counter-attacked, putting on 29 for the 7th wicket, hitting two fours each. The required run rate, though, continued to rise and, in trying to chase them down, Magic lost their last four wickets for 8 runs, going from 91/6 to 99 all out.
It was a valiant effort but the home side were just too strong, with the 34 runs added for their 9th wicket in particular being crucial, much greater than the 19-run victory margin. In the other semi-final, the Bramhall Bisons beat Cheadle and then won the tournament by beating the Beavers fairly comfortably, so even had Magic got through it would have been a tough final. Nevertheless, it had been a very strong summer cup offering considering the rustiness and lack of availability. PA
Sunday 13th September 2026: South Manchester U13s summer cup T20 semi-final
Didsbury Cup 122/6 (20) beat Heaton Mersey U13s 88 all out (19.5) by 34 runs (Scorecard)
Mersey were beaten by Didsbury’s strongest U13 side in this postponed semi-final clash at Didsbury.
Captain Stan lost the toss and the home side decided to bat first on a cool Autumn morning with rain in the air. The home side started steadily and Mersey bowled a solid first few over overs. Naeem, generating lots of pace on a damp pitch, bowled the Didsbury Lancashire opener with a superb yorker at the start of the 4th over. But Didsbury started to score fluently with one of the Cheshire (squads) players scoring with increasing confidence and retiring on 30*.
Didsbury were fortunate not to lose more wickets as some mishit shots landed between fielders as Mersey were a bit hesitant in the field and did not capitalise on these chances. Didsbury looked like scoring a big score until Arjo struck in the 13th over to take his 32nd wicket of a stellar season. Stan then bowled a superb over, taking two wickets as the run rate stalled for the home side. Thomas L struck in the next over after adjusting his line as Mersey fought back. But Didsbury scored 32 runs in the final 5 overs to post a higher-than-par score of 122. Felix bagged a wicket with the penultimate ball of the innings.
Mersey started their batting slowly but without any trouble, reaching 15/0 after 5 overs. But a couple of runouts halted any momentum as Shazil then Felix fell in the 6th over. Shawaiz and Stan started to up the scoring rate as Mersey reached 45/2 at the 10 over mark. However, a double wicket over for the home side in the 11th over, as Stan then Leo fell, halted progress. Shawaiz then cut loose and hit four superb boundaries in the next two overs with some brutal hitting to retire on 30* (off 20 balls). The home side struck again in the 15th over to remove Sam H as he looked set and Mersey struggled to score thereafter, being bowled out tin the last over for 88.
Didsbury won the final easily against Brooklands (by 8 wickets), putting this performance from Mersey into perspective. And Mersey reached the same stage of this tournament two seasons ago when they lost by 10 wickets to Didsbury, so this match showed the progress of the team, especially this season. The neutral umpires were complimentary about Mersey, saying that they played the game in the right spirit and that the game was won by fine margins, which was good to hear.
The pink match ball was awarded by captain Stan and vice-captain Felix to Shawaiz for a superb knock and solid bowling.
Areas for improvement – enjoy the rest from cricket, try other sports and we will see you all at the awards presentation next Saturday (19th Sep.) at 2pm. JH
Authors denoted by the initials; all match reports (sub-)edited by PA.
