Peel and St John’s are the Kings of Manx Cricket. After winning the Isle of Man Premiership, they finished the Manx season on Sunday with victory in the Tinker Cup final. However it was not easy. The match against Cronkbourne was very tight and the result in the balance until the final overs.

Put into bat the Saints were rocked by losing both openers with just 13 on the board. Bowlers Nick Kieswetter and Sam Kebble were in fine form and first change Jaco Jansen caused big trouble with seven accurate overs which cost only 11 runs.

Phil Littlejohns (28) and Nick Hawke (30) slowly rebuilt the innings with a stand of 46. When they were out Pete Lewis took over with a skilful 28, but the team struggled against tight Cronkbourne bowling. A dash for runs in the closing overs was thwarted by Nick Wild who took three wickets and Kebble who returned to bowl Russell Miller for 14.

The innings ended on 142 for 9 after 40 overs - a challenging total on an excellent grass track which was slow paced after the recent rains.

In reply Cronkbourne were soon in trouble after quickly losing the Stokoe brothers to Dan and Nick Hawke. Carl Wagstaffe and Nick Kieswetter battled well to take Cronkbourne to 74 for 5 after 23 overs. At the same point in their innings, Peel were 74 for 4.

With the game in the balance, the Saints bowlers applied the pressure. Aided by smart fielding they tied down the Douglas batsmen. Cronkbourne fell behind the run rate and wickets began to tumble. The Hawkes retuned to crush the lower order and, despite a lively 19 from Sam Kebble, the innings closed on 105 after 36 overs.

Nick Hawke was a star with two wickets for just six runs from seven overs. Dan Hawke took 3 -32 and there was excellent support from the rest of the attack.

So the closing game of the season ended with the Saints lifting the trophy. Neill Angus, chairman of the IOMCA, presented the cup to Peel skipper Dan Hawke and the Man of the Match award went to Nick Hawke.